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ASTON ROWANT

The ancient parish of Aston Rowant was exceptionally large for an Oxfordshire parish: it included
most of the modern parish of Stokenchurch and
must have covered an area of about 7,298 acres. (fn. 1)
It stretched for about 6 miles from the northern end
of Lewknor hundred to the hundred's southern
boundary with Buckinghamshire, and contained
the hamlets of Copcourt, Chalford, and Kingston
Stert in the north; Aston Rowant itself and the
large village of Kingston Blount in the centre; and
the hill village of Stokenchurch and its hamlets at
Beacon's Bottom and Water End in the south. (fn. 2) In
1895 Stokenchurch, which was a separate civil parish
by this time, was transferred to Buckinghamshire. (fn. 3)
Thus Aston Rowant's southern boundary, although
still the county boundary, now runs to the north of
Stokenchurch, and its area has been reduced to 2,924
acres. (fn. 4) Its only natural boundaries are the small
streams in the north and east, whose courses are
followed as they flow northwards to the Thame. One
of these is the Holbrook which is frequently referred
to in 16th- and 17th-century deeds, and in which
the lords of Aston manor had fishing rights. (fn. 5)

To the north of Aston the land is mostly within
the 200–300 ft contour, but Prospect Hill (or Briar's
Hill as it was called in the 19th century) in the
extreme north-west of the modern parish rises to
300 feet. This landmark, which was planted with
Douglas firs by 1878, (fn. 6) may well be the Old English
'Trendle' or 'Trindhulle' meaning Roundhill, recorded in the 13th century. (fn. 7) In the south the crest
of the Chiltern ridge rises to 800 feet near Hill
Farm. (fn. 8) Part of Aston Hill was given to the National
Trust in 1956 and 70 acres on Beacon Hill were
made a Nature Reserve in 1958. (fn. 9) The northern
triangle of the parish lies on the Gault, the centre is
mostly on the Lower Greensand, and the Upper
fields and hill slopes on Chalk. (fn. 10)

The road system has seen a number of changes.
The main London road forms a short part of Aston's
western boundary; it was known as via regis or
'London Weye' in the Middle Ages (fn. 11) and became a
turnpike in 1718. (fn. 12) At that time it passed the present
Warren Farm which was the 'Drum and Plough' inn
in the 18th century, (fn. 13) but in 1824 this route was
'found inconvenient' and was diverted to the west so
as to be more 'commodious to the public'. (fn. 14) The new
turnpike, which was disturnpiked in 1877, (fn. 15) and the
old turnpike are shown on an estate map of 1828. (fn. 16)
An important minor road in the 18th century, but
now no longer used, branched off the main road
south of Tetsworth, ran through Copcourt, along
Copcourt Church Way to Aston, and then joined
the highway at the foot of Aston (i.e. Stokenchurch)
Hill. (fn. 17) Copcourt Church Way had been made by
order of the Bishop of Oxford in 1620; (fn. 18) Chalford

Church Way running from Chalford Green to Aston
may have been laid out at the same time. Both the
Icknield Way (Akemannestrete in 1298 and Hacknall
Way in 1768), at the foot of the Chilterns, and the
Lower Icknield Way to the north were well-defined
roads in the 18th century, but are now grass tracks. (fn. 19)
In 1958 there were three chief lines of communication, all partly ancient ones: a minor road from Postcombe to Sydenham, which has always linked the
hamlets of Chalford and Kingston Stert; (fn. 20) another
minor road from Kingston Stert by Kingston Blount
to the Stokenchurch road; and the road from the
'Lambert Arms' on the London road to Chinnor,
which links all the villages at the foot of the Chilterns.
The last used to pass close to Aston House and the
village, but it was straightened, probably shortly
after 1768, and made to run further to the south. (fn. 21)
The Kingston road was also diverted: it used to
enter the village from Stokenchurch close by Kingston House, but in 1835 it was made to pass west of
the 'Red Lion' so as to bypass the big house, and
was then continued in a straight line to Kingston
Stert instead of along Pleck Lane, its former route. (fn. 22)

A new 'Drum and Plough' had been opened at the
junction of the new turnpike with the Icknield Way, (fn. 23)
but was supplanted in about 1834 by the 'Lambert
Arms', which was built at the junction of the Lewknor-Chinnor road with the turnpike at a point
once known as Aston Cross. (fn. 24) Its ornamental style
of building is an early example of neo-Tudor. It
became an important stopping place for the London
traffic and a traveller on the 'Mazeppa' coach in
about 1840 said that after descending the steep hill
they stopped there for a glass of 'excellent Marlow
beer'. (fn. 25) The railway brought about the inn's temporary eclipse, but with the growth of motorized road
traffic it became once again a busy centre both for
travellers and the parish, and an adjoining hall has
been built. (fn. 26)

A single-line railway from Princes Risborough to
Watlington was constructed in 1872 and was taken
over by the Great Western in 1884. (fn. 27) It used to
follow the line of the Icknield Way. It had a halt at
Kingston Blount and a station at Aston Rowant that
achieved fame in the 1950's by being used in the
films 'My Brother Jonathan' and 'The Captive
Heart'. (fn. 28) The line was closed for passenger traffic in
June 1957, by British Railways. (fn. 29)

Aston Rowant village takes its name from the
Rohant family, lords of the manor in the 14th century. (fn. 30) Its earlier name was Aston St. Helen or
Elene, presumably from the family of John de St.
Helen, who held Crowell in 1293. (fn. 31) The village grew
up beside a stream with its open fields stretching to
both north and south, and in the Middle Ages was the
largest of the settlements in its enormous parish. (fn. 32) But
it declined in importance: by the second half of the
17th century it seems to have had a smaller number
of houses than Kingston, although some of its houses
were more substantial. There was the manor-house
of John Clerke Esq.; there was Richard Crooke's
house with 13 hearths, John Thompson's with 9,
Robert Hester's with 6, and the vicar's with 4, and 3
more farmhouses with 3 to 5 hearths. (fn. 33) In 1738 it had
23 dwellings and in the 1820's there were 4 farms, the
Chequers inn and 16 or 17 houses and cottages
beside the manor-house. (fn. 34) There was much rebuilding in the first half of the 19th century and in 1860
there were 16 cottages, some of them described as
'rustic double cottages',13 tenements of which 6 were
built of brick, the 'Chequers' and Aston Lower Farm
(sometimes called Aston Green Farm and now Home
Farm). (fn. 35) The layout of the 18th-century and early19th-century village can be seen in two estate maps of
Aston manor made respectively in 1768 and 1828, as
well as in the inclosure map of 1835. (fn. 36) The old village
was concentrated more in Church Lane round its imposing church and less round the green than is the
present one. The 'Chequers' and a farmhouse both
lay in the lane, on the opposite side to the church.
Maps and documents show that as population expanded at the end of the 18th century houses were
built along Copcourt Church Way, a continuation of
Church Lane, as far as the Lower Icknield Way.
Indeed, in 1767 the cottages at Penn, adjoining Penn
furlong (see map) were numerous enough to merit
being called the 'Place or hamlet called Penn'. (fn. 37)
Houses for the poor were also built about this time
on the waste near Brookfurlong. (fn. 38)

The oldest of the surviving houses are still (1958)
in Church Lane: flint and brick are the prevailing
building materials and thatch is still commonly used
for the roofs. The 19th-century Vicarage, Home
Farm, the village shop, and most of the cottages and
houses now lie scattered round the green just to the
east of Aston House and the church. The green itself
(1a. 3r.) was allotted by the inclosure commissioners
in 1835 to Sir John Lambert and has since been
private property; it survived proposals to enclose it
in 1951. (fn. 39)

The Vicarage (no longer used as such) is a substantial house of two stories. The 17th-century house
was let after 1761 by the non-resident vicars, and
was rebuilt by the Revd. John Holland in about
1808. (fn. 40) It was twice enlarged at the end of the 19th
century, first in 1874 by the architect E. G. Bruton
and then in 1878 by Arthur Vernon of High Wycombe. (fn. 41) Chequer brick and slates were used for the
new building, which retains several characteristic
Regency features, such as its doorway with radiating
fanlight. Home Farm seems to have been rebuilt by
General Caillaud a little earlier: it has a stone inscribed I. Siarey, the builder's name, and the date
1794. Chequer brick was used for this house too.

The farm buildings include the fine 16th-century
barn of weather-boarding on a flint base, perhaps
built at the same time as the earlier farmhouse shown
on the map of 1768 as an L-shaped building with a
formal garden laid out behind it. (fn. 42) The cottages on
the green now (1958) all date from the 18th or 19th
centuries. Judging from interior details the picturesque 'House on the Green', built of flint and red
brick, was built at the same date as the new Home
Farm, and the three gabled cottages near by are also
of the 18th century. Two groups, each of four cottages, were put up in the 19th century. They are
built in 'Gothic' style of red brick and flint and have
yellow brick surrounds to the windows; their roofs
are of slate. Another 19th-century addition was the
school, opened in 1844 in a lane to the north of the
green. (fn. 43) Twentieth-century development has taken
place outside the village: there are fourteen detached
houses, mostly built between 1931 and 1956, along
the road leading to the Oxford road. (fn. 44)

The manor-house with its park and gardens was
once 'one of the remarkable seats of the county' as
Brewer put it in his Guide of 1819, but the sale of the
estate in 1951 was followed by the conversion of the
garden into a market-garden, and of the mansion
into a store for Grass Products Ltd., a Wheatley
grass-drying firm. (fn. 45) The lords of Aston or their
tenants were often resident, and the history of the
manor-house may go back to 1352, when four stonemasons and three carpenters, engaged on the construction of a chapel for a Thomas Crok (or Cok)
were excused from service overseas. (fn. 46) This house
may still have been standing in 1610 when Sir
William Willoughby purchased the lease of the
manor-house from Augustine (II) Belson, (fn. 47) who had
been living there since 1584. (fn. 48) The use of certain
rooms was reserved in 1610 to Augustine and his
wife, and the account of these indicates that the
house was built on the medieval pattern round a
courtyard and with an outside gallery. It was of two
stories and included a parlour, an old kitchen, a new
kitchen, larder house, 'sinke' house, slatter house,
work house, and straw house. Most of these buildings
had either chambers, a study, or cockloft above them.
It is likely that John Clerke, who acquired the manor
in 1647, rebuilt the house: (fn. 49) it was at all events a
mansion of some pretensions in the second half of
the 17th century. John Clerke, junior, returned 20
hearths for the hearth tax of 1665 (fn. 50) and Robert Plot
writing in 1677 said, 'For garden walks I think one
of the largest I met with was at the worshipful Mr.
Clerke's'. (fn. 51) The 17th-century house seems to have
been greatly enlarged at some date before 1768. An
estate map of that year depicts it with a most irregular ground-plan. (fn. 52) A narrow rectangular building
with two projecting wings, presumably the 17thcentury mansion or a part of it, has a square building
with angle-projections added on to the south-west
end. The formal garden, neatly divided into six compartments, and an orchard lie to the east, and the
whole is inclosed by a wall and partly by water. A
moated farmhouse, standing beside the Kingston
road in Little Toms meadow, provided a pleasant
view to the south. The creation of an extensive park
and its landscaping must have been the work of
General Caillaud who bought the property in 1769
and died at Aston in 1812. (fn. 53) Some of the later alterations have been sketched in red ink on the map of
1768, but full details of the reconstructed house and
its surroundings can be seen on a later estate map of
1828: Little Toms meadow and Great Toms, formerly divided by a hedge, have been united and converted into park land covering 32 acres and planted
with groups of trees; the grounds also included the
'new meadow' west of the Church Way, the moors to
the east, and inclosed meadow in Kingston Blount
township. The straightening of the Kingston road
to the south and Church Lane to the west was a part
of the new scheme: the moated house has been
pulled down and an ornamental water (2¼ a.) with an
island in the middle of it now flows over its site and a
new farmhouse has been built on the Kingston road; (fn. 54)
the mansion-house appears to have been added to
and the gardens made less formal. Haseley stone with
dressings of Bath stone was used for the 18th-and
19th-century house which, until it was gutted by fire
in 1957, had a fine staircase and picture gallery. (fn. 55)
House and gardens together covered about 11 acres
in 1828 and with its outbuildings, plantations, park,
cottages, and woods amounted to 121 acres, and this
had been increased to 161 acres by 1939. (fn. 56) As a part
of the labour of improving the amenities of his
estate General Caillaud pulled down the old 'Poorshouses' in the churchyard and built new ones
farther away. (fn. 57)

Kingston Blount has for many centuries been a more
populous village than the mother village of Aston. (fn. 58)
The name means the king's 'tun' or vill, and no
doubt derives from a period before the Conquest
when it was probably a royal vill. (fn. 59) It acquired its
second name of Blount from the family name of the
lords of the manor from 1237 until the early 15th
century. Later it was sometimes called Kingston
Yorke or Kingston Hungerford after families holding the manor in the 15th and 16th centuries. (fn. 60) It
stands near the eastern boundary of the parish
between the ancient trackways called the Icknield
Way and the Lower Icknield Way, and is one of the
string of villages that sprang up on the spring line
below the Chiltern hills. (fn. 61) It probably once had a
large green, but Kingston Green now consists only
of a small piece of rough grass on the west side of the
village. This was the common land that was left uninclosed by the inclosure award of 1835. (fn. 62) The village
is built round a square of which the LewknorChinnor and the Sydenham-Stokenchurch roads
form two sides. The 'Red Lion' recorded in 1833
once stood at the junction of these two roads. (fn. 63) The
village expanded considerably in the 18th and 19th
centuries and in 1852 was described in Gardner's
Directory as 'large and respectable'. (fn. 64) In 1958 it had
three shops, a post office, three public houses—the
'Royal Oak', the 'Cherry Tree', and the 'Shoulder of
Mutton'—a youth club, and a sports field.

Many of the old timber-framed houses with tiled
or thatched roofs survive. There must have been at
least two manor-houses in Kingston, but their site is
not known. The manor-house of Narnett's fee is
mentioned in 1631, when Robert Chapman, gent.,
was living there. (fn. 65) He sold it to Andrew Crooke, and
it was for this house presumably that Andrew Crooke
returned four hearths for the tax of 1665. (fn. 66) There
are two records of the Blounts' medieval manorhouse. In 1300 Hugh le Blount impleaded the tenant, William, Bishop of Wells, for pulling down a
chapel, worth 8 marks, a kitchen and bakehouse,
each worth 100s., (fn. 67) and in 1317 he and his wife
Nicola were living there when they undertook a
journey to London at the expense of John de Stonor
with whom they had legal business to transact. (fn. 68) It
is possible that 'Moat Manor' represents one of the
manor-houses. It is a timber-framed building with
brick and flint filling; is L-shaped and has an overhanging upper story on the north side; the west
gable-end has herring-bone brick filling and consists
of three stories, whereas the rest of the house is of
two stories. In the 19th century the house was
divided into three cottages. Another 16th-century
house is 'Old Croft' near Pleck Lane. It is a timberframed structure with brick filling, some of the
bricks being arranged in herring-bone pattern, and
with shingled tiles covering part of the front. The
house has a central chimney-stack with a group of
four brick shafts. In the High Street there are several
16th- and 17th-century cottages: some are built of
brick and flint, others are timber-framed with brick
filling, and many have fine box hedges which add
to their attractive appearance. 'Lavengro', a twostoried house, once two cottages and used in the
1940's as a butcher's house and shop, is an interesting example. Its centre block consists of 17th-century
timber-framing with filling of colour-washed brick;
its 16th-century east wing is also timber-framed,
but is filled with herring-bone brick and is lower
in height; and its 18th-century west end is constructed of chequer brick. Until just recently the
east wing had contemporary leaded casement
windows and panelled shutters; it retains stone fireplaces on both floors. There is a central chimneystack with a group of square shafts.

Eighteenth- and early-19th-century prosperity is
reflected in the buildings. The Cherry Tree public
house, for example, which was licensed at least by
1794, (fn. 69) if not earlier, is a late-18th-century house of
two stories constructed of chequer brick; it has offset eaves of denticulated brick, a slate roof, sash windows, and a six-panelled doorway. The door is in the
angle formed by the main building and its wing
projects to the north-west. Another 18th-century
building is a chequer-brick cottage of two stories
lying next to the school. It has eaves of denticulated
brick, flanking chimneys, casement windows of three
lights and a plain central door with a brick panel
above. Town Farm, once owned by the Belsons and
known as Belson Farm in 1832, (fn. 70) also dates from the
18th century.

The chief 19th-century additions to the village
were the Methodist chapel (1859), the Congregational chapel (1861), the Anglican chapel (1877),
and the school. (fn. 71) Outside the village John Brown
built Kingston House in 1855. (fn. 72)

In the 20th century a number of council houses
have also been built on the outskirts of the village.
Five pairs were built before the Second World War
and twenty red-brick ones were erected in 1953–5. (fn. 73)

One of Kingston's hamlets, Kingston Stert, lies 1¾
miles to the north of the village and in 1958 consisted only of a few cottages and of Kingston Villa.
The name Stert is said to mean 'a tongue of land', (fn. 74)
and the place, it seems, developed in the 17th century when Kingston was itself expanding. Stert was
mentioned in 1645, and occurs in the register in
1696, when it was the home of Thomas Munday, a
substantial yeoman farmer. (fn. 75) It had a public house,
the 'Barley Mow', in 1881, (fn. 76) but this no longer exists.
Kingston's other hamlet of Linley, or Kingston
Lilly, (fn. 77) as it was sometimes called, has long been a
'deserted' hamlet and its precise site has not yet been
discovered, although it is likely to have been on the
hill near Gurdon's Farm (Stokenchurch). In the
13th century it had its own chapel, and the Prior of
Wallingford Priory held 2 virgates of land there to
support the serving of a chantry in the chapel three
times a week. (fn. 78)

Chalford and Copcourt were two other hamlets in
the parish, each of which had their separate field
systems and manors. Chalford grew up on chalk
ground at a spot where the Holbrook was easily
fordable. It had seven houses in 1738 (fn. 79) and now consists of a few cottages and two farmhouses. The
smaller farmhouse, Chalford Green Farm, dates from
the 17th century and was probably Richard Cossen's
house in 1665; (fn. 80) the larger Manor Farm goes back
to 1613 when William Hester, the younger, married
Dorothy Clarke. It was built for him by his father
William Hester, gent., who undertook to erect a
house of four bays and an adjoining barn of four
bays. (fn. 81) The family were lessees of the manor in the
16th century. (fn. 82) Later the house appears to have been
occupied by Robert Munday, who was rated on six
hearths for his Chalford house in 1665. (fn. 83) It is a
timber-framed building of four bays with chequer
brick filling and is mainly of two stories with a row of
dormer attics, but its north gable-end is of one
story. The whole house stands on a rubble-stone
base. At its north end there is a massive chimneystack of brick with three chimneys set diagonally.
Inside, the house retains its original timber beams
and until about 1926, when it was sold to the United
States, there was some contemporary panelling. The
house and outbuildings, including an ancient
weather-boarded barn of four bays with a halfhipped roof, are surrounded on three sides by water.
The mill-house that once stood close by has been
taken down, but the mill-sluice and part of the millstream remain. This house was connected with the
disaster of 1582 when the plague was brought by a
visitor from Norfolk and seven of the villagers died
in consequence. (fn. 84)

To the north of Chalford lay Copcourt, a small
hamlet, consisting today of two farmhouses and a
few cottages. Only one of the farmhouses, Copcourt
Manor, is in Aston; the other has always been in
Lewknor. (fn. 85) The name Cobicote or Copcote means in
Old English 'the cottage under the hill', (fn. 86) and the
present manor-house lies beneath a low hill which
protects it from the prevailing south-west wind.
From at least 1279 until 1620 the Cripps or Crispe
family were farmers here, (fn. 87) and their house must
have been on the site of the present house. They are
said to be the ancestors of the late Sir Stafford
Cripps. (fn. 88) The present house dates from the late 18th
century when it was still a farmhouse, but it was
completely modernized between 1789 and 1950. Its
Elizabethan fireplace and panelling were introduced
from East House, Pinner (Middlesex), by the present
owner, E. B. Montesole, Esq. The moat, crossed by
three 18th-century bridges, is a survival from the
ancient building, but the wrought-iron gates are a
recent addition of Venetian origin. (fn. 89) A medieval
stone bastion is the remains of the drawbridge of
the medieval house. The farm-buildings include
two timber-framed barns dating from the 16th, 17th,
and 18th centuries. Both have brick filling; one is
tiled and has a dovecot; the other is thatched. Two
dovecots, it may be noted, belonged to the manor in
1575. (fn. 90) There is also an 18th-century square granary
of double boarding; it stands on straddle stones and
has 1765 R.C. carved on a beam.

The only other outlying farmhouse of interest is
Warren Farm: it was the 'Drum and Plough' on
the old London road before the new turnpike was
made. (fn. 91) It is an 18th-century house of flint with
brick facings and has ancient wooden barns adjoining. The place now belongs to the Manor Charitable Trust and is used as a week-end house for
boys from the east end of London, and for summer
camps for 40 or more boys. Sir Edward Cadogan
acts as Warden. (fn. 92)

The parish has played no prominent part in
national events. It may be significant of local feeling
that in 1557 its bell-ringers were put in the stocks
by Sir Henry Bedingfield for ringing to welcome
Princess Elizabeth on her journey from High
Wycombe to Rycote. (fn. 93) In the 17th century both
royalist and parliamentary troops probably made
levies on the inhabitants: a royalist troop at Aston
was reported to have 'fetched away a gentleman's
coach' and to have taken horses from the country
round about. (fn. 94) In July 1643 a great body of the king's
horse were under Aston and Kingston Hills, and
there was a parliamentary garrison uncomfortably
near at Thame. (fn. 95)

Manors.

In the mid-11th century ASTON(fn. 96)
belonged to the bishopric of Winchester, since in
1055 Archbishop Stigand, then Bishop of Winchester,
made an unfulfilled promise to grant it to Abingdon
Abbey (Berks.), lord of the adjoining land at Lewknor. (fn. 97) Immediately before the Conquest, however,
Aston was held freely by a certain Wulfstan. Afterwards it was given to Miles Crispin, and in 1086 his
land there was assessed at 20 hides. (fn. 98) Miles died in
1107 and his widow Maud, the daughter of Robert
d'Oilly, and her lands were given in marriage to
Brian FitzCount by Henry I. During FitzCount's
tenure part of the estate, the later Chalford manor,
was granted to Wallingford Priory. (fn. 99) After 1153 and
when Stephen was still king, both FitzCount and his
wife, who had been zealous supporters of Maud,
entered religious houses, and King Stephen gave the
Aston estates to Henry, Duke of Normandy, later
King Henry II. (fn. 100) Aston thus became part of the honor of
of Wallingford and eventually of the honor of
Ewelme. (fn. 101)

In 1154 Henry granted Aston to Riulf de Sessuns,
but by 1161 Riulf's lands were held at farm by Hugh
de la Mare, who was returned in 1166 as holding
Kingston Blount, a part of Aston parish. (fn. 102) In 1173
the king granted lands worth £24 4s. in Aston and
£6 in Thenford (Northants.) to Alan FitzAmfrey
(i.e. Amfrey son of Roland) in exchange for Crowmarsh. (fn. 103) Alan had died by 1187, when his lands were
again in the king's hands, and the Steward of the
honor of Wallingford accounted for them in that year
and in 1188. (fn. 104) A nephew Alan, the son of a brother
Roland, (fn. 105) succeeded. He was in possession of the
Aston lands of Alan FitzAmfrey at least by 1194, (fn. 106)
and in 1196 he held 1¼ fees of Wallingford honor,
presumably Aston and Thenford. (fn. 107) By 1201 he had
lost Thenford and Aston Rowant counted as ½-fee. (fn. 108)
He must have died in 1211 or 1212, for in 1212 John
Marshall had custody of his ½-fee and of his young
son and heir, Roland. (fn. 109) Roland was still a minor in
1219, when he was in the custody of Henry Foliot of
Fritwell, but he was in possession in 1228. (fn. 110) He
died in 1247, (fn. 111) and his son Alan succeeded. Alan,
described as Alan son of Roland of Aston, was
granted free warren in all his demesne lands in
1257 (fn. 112) and in 1279 he held Aston manor and the
hamlets of Stokenchurch and Copcourt for ½-fee,
besides certain rents in Chalford and an estate at
Wormsley in Stokenchurch. (fn. 113) He was still alive in
1295 and in possession of Aston with Stokenchurch
and of estates in Leicestershire. (fn. 114) Alan's three sons
succeeded in turn: Roland FitzAlan had died
before 1300 when John FitzAlan held the ½-fee, and
in 1316 Henry his brother was lord. (fn. 115) At his death in
1318 Henry FitzAlan was seised of various Devonshire estates held of Hugh de Courtenay as well as
Aston manor, for which he owed suit of court at
Wallingford, ward, relief and marriage, and one foot
soldier to defend Wallingford castle in time of war. (fn. 116)
Henry's son Roger, known as Sir Roger Rohant,
married Eleanor the daughter of Richard Lovel of
Wincanton (Som.), and in 1326 entailed Aston
manor on his heirs male. (fn. 117) He was still alive in 1340
when he again put the manor in trust. (fn. 118) In 1360 a
Lady Eleanor Rohant, presumably his widow, was
administering the estate. (fn. 119) Rohant's property passed
to his daughter Eleanor and her husband Thomas
Champernowne. Eleanor also had died by 1369,
when Thomas Champernowne, lord of Modbury
(Devon), quitclaimed his rights in certain of
Eleanor's estates to Richard Champernowne their
son, (fn. 120) described elsewhere as great-grandson of
Richard Lovel. (fn. 121) Aston Rowant was not mentioned
among them, so it is possible that Richard had been
in possession of it since his mother's death. The
Champernownes were Devonshire gentry and served
the king as sheriffs and commissioners in the 14th and
15th centuries. (fn. 122) Richard (I) had died by 1377 having
settled Aston Rowant on his son Richard, a minor,
the son of his second wife Katherine Daubeny. (fn. 123) Sir
Richard (II) Champernowne died in 1420, leaving as
his heir a son Hugh, aged two; (fn. 124) his wife Isabel was
assigned dower in his Devonshire and Oxfordshire
property, though certain estates were in the king's
hands. (fn. 125) Richard's elder brother Alexander, a son of
Richard (I) Champernowne by his first wife, unsuccessfully disputed his nephew's claim to succeed. (fn. 126)
Alexander, who was married to the heiress of Bere
Ferrers manor in Devon, was the son of the elder
Richard Champernowne by his first wife, Alice
Astley. It is difficult to see upon what grounds
Alexander disputed the descent of Aston to Hugh,
for, on his own showing, the elder Richard had
devised Aston to the younger Richard and the heirs
of his body.

Hugh Champernowne, the FitzAlan heir mentioned in 1428, served the king in Devon, like his
predecessors, as commissioner in 1456 and 1458. (fn. 127)
He was dead by 1462 when his wife Joan also died. (fn. 128)
He was succeeded by his son William, who died in
1464, and his grandson John, born in 1458. (fn. 129) John
Champernowne settled Aston Rowant on his son
Philip and Philip's wife Katherine Carew and they
were seised of the manor, worth £32, before his
death in 1503. (fn. 130) In 1505 John's widow Margaret,
daughter of Sir Philip Courtenay, and her second husband John West sued for dower of 1/6th of the manor,
and lands in Aston, Chalford, Copcourt, and Stokenchurch. (fn. 131) The Champernownes were obviously
more attached to their Devonshire estates than to
those in Oxfordshire and in 1528 Philip Champernowne, who had been Sheriff of Devon in the preceding year, conveyed Aston with appurtenances in
Stokenchurch, Chalford, Copcourt, and 'Oxlades'
to Henry Courtenay, Earl of Devon and Marquess
of Exeter, his mother's brother-in-law. (fn. 132) Courtenay
immediately exchanged it with Sir Thomas Unton
of Wadley (Berks.) for land in Surrey. (fn. 133) Sir Thomas
died in 1533 and was succeeded by his son Alexander,
who, dying in 1547, left the manor to his eldest son
Edward. (fn. 134) The Untons were a new family, but connected by marriage with England's leading families,
particularly with that of Thomas Seymour, Duke of
Somerset and Lord Protector. They held or rented
numerous manors in Oxfordshire and other counties. (fn. 135) When Sir Edward Unton's son Edward married Katharine Hastings, daughter of Sir George
Hastings, later 4th Earl of Huntingdon, the elder Sir
Edward settled Aston manor and Chequers in
Stokenchurch on his son and his wife. (fn. 136) Colonel
Edward Unton succeeded in 1582. (fn. 137) He lived at
Wadley and in 1584 leased the manor-house of
Aston Rowant to Robert Belson for 57 years at a
rent of £27 9s. a year, with various lands in Aston
and Stokenchurch. (fn. 138) Colonel Unton died about
1589, (fn. 139) and his brother Henry had succeeded by
1590. (fn. 140) When Henry, a friend of the Hattons and a
noted diplomat, died in 1596, (fn. 141) the male line became
extinct; his heirs were his widow Dorothy, daughter
of Sir Thomas Wroughton of Broad Hinton (Wilts.),
his sister Cecily, wife of John Wentworth, and his
three nieces Elizabeth, Anne, and Mary Knightly,
the daughters of his sister Ann, late wife of Valentine
Knightly of Fawley (Bucks.). (fn. 142) Cecily and the
daughters of Ann succeeded to Aston Rowant, (fn. 143) but
Henry Unton had died heavily in debt: he owed
at least £23,000 and had personal property worth
only £5,000; he had already mortgaged the manor to
Walter Dennys of Wotton Underwood and at his
death it was said that both Stokenchurch and Aston
Rowant had been assigned to Sir Henry Poole and
Nicholas Payne. (fn. 144) The manor was therefore sold to
John Rotherham, Esq., of Great Marlow (Bucks.). (fn. 145)
He settled it in 1600 for 25 years on Sir William
Willoughby, the son of his sister Margaret. (fn. 146)
William, having repurchased the lease of the manorhouse held by Augustine (II) Belson, granted the
manor to his son Rotherham Willoughby, but
Rotherham predeceased his father in 1613, leaving
a child William, who succeeded his grandfather in
1615. (fn. 147)

William Willoughby still held the manor as late
as 1630, when he and his wife Elizabeth conveyed it
to Henry Lee of London. (fn. 148) Lee died holding Aston
and Stokenchurch in 1632 and leaving a young son
Henry as heir. (fn. 149) Henry Lee, junior, had died by
1642 when his father's six sisters quitclaimed their
rights in the manor to various trustees, (fn. 150) who had
sold 4/6ths of the manor by 1647 to John Clerke of
Lincoln's Inn and his son John. (fn. 151) Rebecca, the
sister of either Henry Lee (I) or his son, had married
John Clerke, senior. (fn. 152) In 1651 the Clerkes acquired
another 1/6th of the manor; in 1655 the estate was
settled on John Clerke, junior (d. 1683), when he
married Judith Rye, and in 1662 he obtained complete possession of all portions of the manor. (fn. 153) In
1670 Aston was the marriage portion of his second
wife Ann Lane, grandchild of John Lane of London;
in 1707 John (III) Clerke settled the manor on his
wife Mary Harrison; he died in 1719 leaving an
infant son John (IV) Clerke, who later in 1739
mortgaged Aston and Stokenchurch manors for
£5,000 and in 1743 for £8,400. (fn. 154) After his death at
Aston House in 1764 his son John (V) Clerke sold
the manor in 1769 for £16,000 to Brig. General John
Caillaud. (fn. 155) John Caillaud had had a distinguished
military career in India and when he retired in 1775
he settled at Aston. (fn. 156) In 1800 he mortgaged the
manor for £8,000 to Isaac Bargrave of Eastry Court
(Kent), and before his death in 1812 he conveyed
the encumbered estate to trustees. (fn. 157) The estate was
sold in 1819 to Philip Thomas Wykeham of Tythrop
House and Aston Rowant, and in about 1822 to Sir
Francis Desanges. (fn. 158) In 1828 Sir Henry Lambert, Bt.,
obtained it with the manorial rights. (fn. 159) He had married Anna Maria Foley, a descendant of John
Clerke (d. 1764), lord of the manor in the 18th
century. (fn. 160) After Sir Henry's death in 1858, Aston
manor was sold to Thomas Taylor, of 'The Limes' in
Standish-with-Langtree (Lancs.) and of Wigan, a
cotton-spinner. (fn. 161) He also bought other neighbouring
property. (fn. 162) Taylor lived in Aston Rowant House
apparently until 1889, when the estate and manor
were offered for sale by his creditors. (fn. 163) Sir William
C. Plowden, K.C.S.I., a distinguished former member of the Bengal Civil Service, was lord of the
manor in 1903; (fn. 164) Charles Vincent Sale (High Sheriff
in 1925) by 1920, (fn. 165) and Edward Hayes Dashwood by
1935. (fn. 166) On Dashwood's death in 1950 the estate was
split up and manorial rights lapsed.

In the 13th century a John Milksop (Milesop or
Milckesop) held 1 virgate in Aston of a Geoffrey de
Pockele, paying 4s. scutage, while Geoffrey acquitted
the service to the chief lords of 'Hucham'. (fn. 167) It is not
possible to trace the descent of this land in the next
two centuries, but by the 16th century there was a
manor of MILKSOPPES which was held by the
Pigotts of Aston Rowant. (fn. 168) They apparently sold it
to Sir William Willoughby, lord of Aston Rowant,
who died possessed of it in 1615. (fn. 169) There is no
further reference to it and the manor was probably
absorbed into the main manor of Aston Rowant.

In 1352 a Thomas Crok was building a chapel on
his ASTON ROWANT manor. (fn. 170) He or a son died
in 1371 on the king's service in Brittany and his
land in Aston Rowant was then said to consist of 12
acres held by knight service of Edward, Prince of
Wales, as of the honor of Wallingford, and of another
40 acres which the chaplain of Aston Rowant held of
him for life. His heir was his father's brother, Peter
Crok. (fn. 171) It has not been possible to trace this small
holding further, but the 17th-century Crokes (or
Crookes), tenants of a messuage and large house in
Aston Rowant, may have had some connexion with
the medieval family. (fn. 172)

In 1086 COPCOURT must have been one of the
2-hide estates called the 'other Cote' which Miles
Crispin held. It was probably the one which he held
in demesne, (fn. 173) since Copcourt, it seems, was held
in demesne by his successors. It formed part of the
½-fee held in Aston and followed the descent of the
main manor there until at least the early 15th century. (fn. 174) It was therefore held of the honor of Wallingford. (fn. 175)

A William Crispe held a virgate in Copcourt of the
lords of Aston as early as 1279 (fn. 176) and it was probably
this estate which developed into the later-16thcentury Copcourt manor. A Henry Cripps, senior,
and Henry Cripps, junior, probably descendants of
William Crispe, are recorded at the beginning of the
14th century; (fn. 177) by 1427 Henry Cripps, the younger,
had died leaving a widow Joan, who granted all his
lands in Kingsey, Towersey, and Tythrop (Bucks.)
to John Cottesmore and Peter Fettiplace. (fn. 178) A John
Cripps, possibly Henry's son, was 'lord of divers
places in Copcote' in 1441. (fn. 179) By 1527 Christopher
Crispe (or Cripps), gentleman, John Cripps's grandson, held in Copcourt; (fn. 180) in 1575 Christopher's
seventh son, Henry Crispe, was lord. (fn. 181) By 1612 the
manor was held by Nicholas Crispe, (fn. 182) who with his
wife Susanna and a Charnell Crispe, probably their
heir, alienated it to Sir Richard Wenman of Thame
Park in 1620. (fn. 183)

It is not known when CHALFORD became a
separate manor. It was not mentioned by name in
Domesday Book and was then certainly included in
Aston Rowant estate. (fn. 184) Like Aston it was a member
of the honor of Wallingford. When Brian FitzCount
and his wife Maud d'Oilly, widow of Miles Crispin,
held Aston Rowant in the early 12th century they
granted the hamlet of Chalford with 4 hides of land
to the Prior of Wallingford in free alms. (fn. 185) Later in
the 12th century the prior acquired 10 acres of the
demesne land of Aston Rowant in Chalford from
Alan FitzAmfrey, (fn. 186) lord of Aston, and by 1279, when
he was returned as holding in chief of the Earl of
Cornwall, (fn. 187) he had also obtained the land of a
William of Chalford. (fn. 188) In 1316 he was again returned
as lord of Chalford, (fn. 189) and in 1324 was granted protection in a number of manors including Chalford
and Stokenchurch. (fn. 190) The priory leased the manor in
the later Middle Ages: in 1360 to Lady Eleanor
Rohant at a rent of £60 a year (fn. 191) and in 1473 to
William and Agnes Hester and their son Henry for
30 years at a yearly rent of 100s. (fn. 192) This lease was
renewed later in 1497 when William Hester and his
son Richard were granted the manor on a 50-year
lease. (fn. 193) On the dissolution of Wallingford Priory in
1528, the manor was given to Cardinal Wolsey to
endow his Oxford college. (fn. 194) On his fall Chalford
must have reverted to the Crown, for in 1531 the
king granted it to St. Albans Abbey. (fn. 195) When that
house was dissolved in 1539, Chalford was granted to
Bartholomew Pigott of Aston Rowant, (fn. 196) who had
conveyed it by 1544, without royal permission, to Sir
John Williams, later Lord Williams of Thame, the
master of the king's jewel house. (fn. 197) Lord Williams
died in possession of the manor, (fn. 198) and Chalford went
to Sir Henry Norreys by right of his wife Margaret
(or Margery), Lord Williams's daughter. (fn. 199) In 1561
they alienated the manor to Richard Belson of
Kingston Blount and his wife Elizabeth. (fn. 200) The
Belsons had been in the parish since the 15th century
at least when Thomas Belson, yeoman, had held land
under John Champernowne, lord of Aston Rowant. (fn. 201)
Richard died in 1569 at Kingston Blount, leaving a
widow and four sons. (fn. 202) His heir Bartholomew was a
minor and died in 1575; his second son Augustine,
also a minor, succeeded. (fn. 203) In 1586 Augustine and his
wife Mary conveyed Chalford manor to Henry
Unton, lord of Aston, (fn. 204) who conveyed it in 1589 to
William Hester of Aston. Hester was presumably
the tenant and a descendant of the William Hester
who acquired a 50-year lease in 1497. (fn. 205) In 1608
Hester settled Chalford on Sarah Andrewes, the
wife of his son Robert, (fn. 206) and after William Hester's
death in 1618, (fn. 207) Robert and Sarah with John Hester
the younger conveyed the estate to William Nelson
and Bartholomew Pigott. (fn. 208) In 1634 it was conveyed
to John Stone of Ridgemont (Beds.) and his son
Richard. (fn. 209)

On Richard Stone's death in 1661, Chalford passed
to his son John, who married Catherine Carleton,
eventual heiress to Brightwell Baldwin. (fn. 210) John was
succeeded by his sons Carleton (d. 1708) and John
(d. 1732), both of whom died childless. A cousin
Francis Lowe of Clifton (Bucks.), a grandson of
Dorothy, daughter of Richard Stone and Frances
Lowe of Clifton, then obtained the estates. (fn. 211) Lowe's
heir, on his death in 1754, was his daughter Catherine, who married in 1774 William, son of William
Lowndes of Astwood Bury (Bucks.). On this marriage
Lowndes changed his name to Lowndes-Stone in
accordance with his father-in-law's will. The heir of
Catherine and William (d. 1733) was their son
William (d. 1830), who was followed by his son
William Francis (d. 1858). (fn. 212) At some unknown date
the manor was incorporated in Thame Park estate
with which it descended until 1917, (fn. 213) when it was
sold to E. J. Browning, Esq., who in 1938 sold it to
E. B. Montesole, Esq., the present owner. (fn. 214)

In Domesday Book there were two estates in
Kingston, both held by Miles Crispin. (fn. 215) The overlordship of both descended with his other lands to
the honor of Wallingford and its successor, the honor
of Ewelme. (fn. 216) Miles's estate in Kingston, assessed at 7
hides, probably represented KINGSTON MANOR,
which from the 12th to the 17th centuries was
usually held for ¼-fee. (fn. 217) By 1166 it was held by Hugh
de la Mare, almost certainly a descendant of William
de la Mare, the Domesday Book holder of Beversbrook in Hilmarton (Wilts.). (fn. 218) Henry II conferred on
Hugh, in gratitude for his services to the Empress
Maud, the manor of Didcot (Berks.), to be held
for ½-fee. (fn. 219) Kingston clearly represented the ¼-fee
held by Hugh in 1166 of the honor of Wallingford, (fn. 220)
and Didcot and Kingston the ¾–-fee of 1196, when
Hugh had been succeeded by Geoffrey de la Mare. (fn. 221)
Geoffrey, a knight, was presumably his son; (fn. 222) he was
alive in 1212, (fn. 223) but had been succeeded by 1219 by
his son Hugh. (fn. 224) Hugh, who was also a knight, held
Kingston in 1235 (fn. 225) and died probably in 1237. (fn. 226)

His heiress was his daughter Ellen, the wife of
Sir Andrew le Blount, son of Robert le Blount, a
London alderman. Sir Andrew was a man of some
substance, for he inherited the family's Essex property, (fn. 227) as well as Penkridge (Staffs.) from his uncle
Henry de London, Archbishop of Dublin. (fn. 228) Emma,
Hugh de la Mare's widow, and Ellen's mother,
released all her rights in Kingston manor to her
daughter and her husband. (fn. 229) Andrew died in 1259 (fn. 230)
and in the same year his widow paid 200 marks for
the custody of his lands and heirs, saving to the king
the marriage of the heirs. (fn. 231) By 1261 she had married
without license David de Offington, a yeoman of
Bishop Wingham of London, (fn. 232) and later a supporter
of Simon de Montfort. (fn. 233) She was pardoned and in
1279 her husband held Kingston by the courtesy of
England (fn. 234) and continued to do so until 1297. (fn. 235) He
was dead by 1300 and the manor returned to the Le
Blounts.

Andrew le Blount's eldest son Robert, also a
supporter of Simon de Montfort, (fn. 236) probably died
early, and was succeeded by his brother Sir Hugh le
Blount, who held Kingston by 1300, (fn. 237) and in 1305
was given free warren in his demesne lands, including Kingston. (fn. 238) On his death, probably in 1327,
he was buried in Aston Rowant church, where his
brass once was. (fn. 239) Hugh le Blount made two marriages.
His eldest son by the first was another Hugh, who
was dead by 1315, when his widow Margery
released her dower rights in Kingston and Didcot
to her father-in-law. (fn. 240) Her eldest son Hugh III
(d. 1361) inherited the family lands in Essex and
Staffordshire, (fn. 241) but in 1327 Hugh (I) had settled
Kingston on Margery for life, and then on her
younger sons Robert and Nicholas. (fn. 242) However, on
his death Kingston was held by his widow Nicola,
who married as her second husband John de
Alveton, (fn. 243) who served as Sheriff and Escheator of
Oxfordshire and bought up other land in the
county. (fn. 244) In 1337 Hugh III released his rights in
Kingston to the Alvetons, (fn. 245) and later Joan, the
widow of Robert le Blount, released her rights. (fn. 246) By
1345 the Alvetons were in possession of the manor
and settled its succession on their son John and his
wife Margaret. (fn. 247) However, the younger John died
before his father, and on the death of John de Alveton
in 1361 the male line of the family came to an end. (fn. 248)
His heiress was his daughter Margaret, the wife of
Sir Thomas de Williamscote of Kiddington. (fn. 249)

In 1362 the Williamscotes sold Kingston as well
as other Oxfordshire land to Sir Thomas le Blount
the elder, (fn. 250) who had fought at Crecy and was
knighted in 1347. He was almost certainly the son of
Hugh I and Nicola, (fn. 251) and so recovered one of his
family's alienated manors. He granted Kingston for
life to Margaret, the widow of the younger John de
Alveton, who had married as her second husband
Sir William de Lucy, a Wiltshire knight, (fn. 252) but Sir
Thomas was in possession of it by 1390, (fn. 253) and in
1394 he leased it for seven years at £20 to his eldest
son Sir Thomas le Blount. (fn. 254) The younger Sir
Thomas, who was a knight of Richard II, was
executed at Oxford in 1400 for his part in the conspiracy to assassinate Henry IV at Christmas 1399, (fn. 255)
and after his death the manor was returned to his
father. (fn. 256) The elder Sir Thomas was dead by 1407 and
Kingston was inherited by his youngest son John,
the last member of the family. In that year he
settled it on himself and his heirs with remainder to
John Chiltern of Bridport (Dors.), who was to pay
his executors £100. (fn. 257) John le Blount was evidently
dead by 1421 when Chiltern, with Edmund and
Elizabeth Dauntsey, sold the manor to Nicholas
Wotton. (fn. 258)

Nicholas Wotton, M.P., of Ramsbury (Wilts.),
was a lawyer who acquired a large landed estate in
Wiltshire: he had died by 1454. (fn. 259) Kingston was inherited by his daughter and coheiress Agnes, the
wife of William Yorke of East Hagbourne (Berks.). (fn. 260)
William Yorke died in 1476 (fn. 261) and was succeeded by
his son John, who died in 1513 or 1514 (fn. 262) and then
by his grandson Thomas Yorke, upon whose death
in 1542 the male line of the family came to an end. (fn. 263)
One of Yorke's sisters, Eleanor, had married Robert
Hungerford of Cadenham in Bremhill (Wilts.), (fn. 264)
and Kingston thus came into the Hungerford family,
which for a time gave the village its name. Kingston
descended to the Hungerfords' son Robert (d. 1558),
and then to Robert's son Walter, who died holding
it in 1601. (fn. 265) Walter's son John Hungerford sold the
manor in 1610 for £8,200 to Robert Chapman of
Gray's Inn. (fn. 266) Chapman may have been acting on
behalf of Sir William Willoughby, lord of Aston
Rowant, who died in 1615 holding Kingston
manor. (fn. 267) However, in 1613 he had pledged it to
Nicholas Pigott of Aston Rowant as security for a
loan of £700, (fn. 268) and since the manor was not redeemed it passed to the Pigotts. In 1619 John Pigott,
Nicholas's son and heir, leased it for 999 years to
his brother Bartholomew Pigott of London, (fn. 269) who
was holding it in 1626. (fn. 270)

After this the descent of the manor cannot be
traced until 1756 when Joseph Wingrave of Stokenchurch, formerly a London winecooper, sold it to
Thomas Blackall of Great Haseley. (fn. 271) By this time
most of the land had been sold. Blackall bought
up much property in Oxfordshire, including Great
Milton manor, and Kingston descended with this
until 1829, (fn. 272) when Walter Long, the Blackalls' heir,
sold it, with about 165 acres, for £5,950 to John
Brown. (fn. 273) Brown had married Mary Elizabeth Clerke,
the daughter and heiress of Richard Clerke (d. 1820)
and Lady Mary Foley. The family had long been associated with the parish, for they held Stokenchurch
manor and they had been lords of Aston Rowant until
Richard Clerke's half-brother John (d. 1792) had
sold it. (fn. 274) On John Brown's death in 1870 he was
succeeded by his son, Arthur Henry Clerke Brown
(d. 1889), and by his grandson Henry Clerke Brown
(d. 1919). The latter's son, John Clerke-Brown, the
principal landowner in Kingston, (fn. 275) was lord of the
manor in 1958.

Miles Crispin's other Domesday estate in Kingston was assessed at 5 hides and was held of him
by Humphrey, (fn. 276) who was also his tenant at Brinkworth (Wilts.). (fn. 277) This estate, lying partly in Kingston and partly in Linley, (fn. 278) was held for 1 fee, (fn. 279) and
was one of the 3 fees held in 1166 by Gilbert de Bellewe of the honor of Wallingford. (fn. 280) It descended to
Geoffrey de Bella Aqua, who died in about 1200. (fn. 281)

Geoffrey, who also held Fleet Marston (Bucks.),
had two daughters, between whom his lands were
divided. Miles Nernuit, or Narnett, the son of his
daughter Maud, obtained half of the fee in Kingston, (fn. 282) and this ½-fee, known as NARNETT'S FEE,
descended in the Narnett family with Pitstone
Neyrnut manor (Bucks.) (fn. 283) In 1279 and 1300 John
Narnett was holding in Kingston and Linley, (fn. 284) but
no later record of the family has been found in
Kingston, and in the 15th century it died out in the
male line. (fn. 285) In 1428 the ½-fee in Kingston was said
to be held of John Narnett's heirs. (fn. 286) Narnett's fee,
also known as Kingston Narnett, formed a separate
tithing at the courts of the honors of Wallingford and
Ewelme until the 19th century, (fn. 287) but the descent of
the property has not been traced. In the 17th century the manor-house of Narnett's fee in Kingston
belonged to Christopher Petty of Tetsworth, who
sold it to Andrew Crooke (d. 1631), a Kingston freeholder. (fn. 288)

Geoffrey de Bella Aqua's other daughter Alice (fn. 289)
sold in 1223 her ½-fee in Kingston and Linley, together with her half of Fleet Marston (Bucks.), to
Ralph de Verney. (fn. 290) The property was known as
VERNEY'S FEE and descended in the Verney
family of Fleet Marston probably until about 1375. (fn. 291)
In 1378 it was sold to John James of Wallingford, (fn. 292)
who in 1394 was granted free warren in his demesne
lands including those in Kingston, (fn. 293) and who died in
1396 holding land there which was inherited by his
son Robert James. (fn. 294) In 1424 the Verney estate was
sold by Thomas Chaucer and other feoffees to
Nicholas Wotton, (fn. 295) who had just acquired Kingston
manor. Although the land thus became united to
the manor lands, it remained a separate tithing,
sometimes known as 'Kingston Varney' or 'Kingston
Lilly', (fn. 296) at the honor courts until the 18th century. (fn. 297)

Lesser Estate.

By the 13th century Thame
Abbey held land in Kingston. Towards the end of the
century Thomas North of Kingston held a free hide
of the abbey doing the service customary for 1/5-fee on
condition that the abbey was responsible for this service to Edmund, Earl of Cornwall, the holder of
Wallingford honor. (fn. 298) This was possibly the hide held
in 1279 by Thomas de Kingston. (fn. 299) Another tenant of
the abbey was Guy de Crowell, its falconer, to whom
in 1274 it granted a house and land for £2 a year. (fn. 300)
Its Kingston rents were increased in 1276 by a grant
of 50s. rent from Mary de Hortimer. (fn. 301) In 1542
Thame's Kingston property, valued at £4 0s. 5d. in
1535, (fn. 302) formed part of the endowment of the new see
of Oxford, (fn. 303) and in 1546 it was granted to Christ
Church, the bishop's cathedral. (fn. 304)

Economic and Social History.

The
area of Aston and Kingston was favourable for early
settlement. The three springs rising in the two vills
and flowing northwards into the Holbrook provided a
good water supply; the soil in the plain consisting of
both chalk and clay was highly productive and the
slopes of the Chilterns provided beech woods for
feeding pigs, and ample brushwood, and building
timber. There are indications that the advantages of
the site were appreciated in pre-Roman times, (fn. 305) but
the continuous life of the villages probably dates
from the early Anglo-Saxon period. Aston or the
'East Tun' (fn. 306) grew up at the source of one of the
streams and was so named perhaps to distinguish it
from 'West Tun' (now South Weston), lying 2 miles
to the west. Kingston (Chingestone) or the 'King's
Tun' developed at the source of the other two streams
and beside an ancient road connecting all the vills at
the foot of the Chilterns. Both villages are likely to
have been originally the centres of an important
royal estate, but before the time of Domesday both
had been alienated. In 1065 Aston, by then in the
hands of a Saxon freeman Ulstan who had a tenant
Aluric with 1 virgate, was worth £15. (fn. 307) This
valuable estate included the territory of Stokenchurch, later to become a separate parish, (fn. 308) and of
Chalford and Copcourt, hamlets of Aston that may
have been already in existence. In 1086, when the
estate belonged to Miles Crispin, it was assessed at
20 hides. For so extensive a property the assessment
of 20 hides is low and may be explained by beneficial
hidation, by the large amount of waste land, or possibly by devastation by the northern insurgents. (fn. 309)
There was said to be land for 33 ploughs, and 20 acres
of meadow were recorded. The demesne was comparatively very small, having only 3 plough-teams
worked by 6 serfs. As 26 villani, 3 bordars, and 15
free tenants owned another 30 plough-teams, all the
available land was presumably being cultivated. (fn. 310)
The number of free tenants is exceptionally large,
only eight others being recorded in the county, and
may perhaps be attributed both to the vill's early
connexion with the Anglo-Saxon kings, and to the
wooded nature of some of the terrain which was more
suitable for isolated holdings than for open-field
cultivation by villani.

Kingston, also in Miles Crispin's hands, had only
19 tenants compared with Aston's 50. It was divided
into two manors. On the one assessed at 7 hides
there were 2 ploughs in demesne worked by 6 serfs,
and 4 villani and 1 bordar had 2 ploughs. Sixteen
acres of meadow were also recorded. Here the land
appears to have been only partly cultivated as there
were 2 plough-lands in excess of plough-teams. Its
value had risen from £6 to £7, whereas at Aston
there had been a rise of 25 per cent. On the 5-hide
estate which a certain Humphrey held of Miles
Crispin the amount of plough-land is not stated,
but there was 1 plough in demesne, and 7 villeins and
1 bordar had 4 ploughs; in contrast with most vills
in this part of Oxfordshire the pre-Conquest value
of £5 had not altered. (fn. 311)

It is not until the end of the 12th century that the
parish's three hamlets first occur in the records, but
their Old English names suggest that they may have
been of far older origin. Chalford, the largest settlement, is first mentioned in 1185, and Copcourt in
1199. (fn. 312) Both were offshoots of Aston. The first
reference to the third hamlet Linley, or Lilley,
occurs in 1200, when Geoffrey de la Mare was accused of taking the pigs belonging to the men of
Samson de la Pomereia. They were feeding on
Samson's common at 'Hotelee' and in 'Lillee' or
'Linleia' at Kingston. The case was heard in the
king's court and the lawful men of Kingston and
Linley were summoned to make a reasonable division. (fn. 313) The site of this hamlet has long been lost, but
there is no doubt that it lay in the woodland above
Kingston Hill. The name of the place means 'clearing
in the wood where flax is grown', and it was almostcertainly settled from Kingston with which it is always
connected. (fn. 314) At the time of this boundary dispute
Linley must already have been a sizeable community
for it appears in the list of vills taxed for the carucage of 1220. Kingston and Linley together paid 22s.,
being the tax on 11 carucates. Aston and its hamlets
were taxed on 63 carucates and a 'part'. (fn. 315) This great
extent is accounted for by the inclusion of part of
Stokenchurch.

By the time of the survey of 1279 the land of Aston
had become completely manorialized. It was part of
a large manor which included the hamlets of
Stokenchurch, Copcourt, and Chalford. There were
21 unfree and 19 free tenants recorded in Aston and
its two hamlets of Copcourt and Chalford, which
were divided between two lords. (fn. 316) Aston was the
larger settlement. The lord, Alan fitz Rohant, had 12
virgates (3 hides) in demesne, 30 acres of meadow
and pasture, and 52 acres of woodland. One virgater
and 6 half-virgaters held 4 virgates between them
for a rent of 20s. a virgate or works, and there were 4
cottars with a cottage and 2 or 3 acres each, paying
varying rents and light hay-making dues. Ten free
tenants together held 10 virgates, six for varying
rents only and three others for about 6s. a virgate
and light services. Nicholas the smith, listed as a free
virgater and as a cottager, paid a low rent of 2s. 7d.
for his virgate, but had to plough and reap 1 acre,
make shares for 2 of the lord's ploughs with the
lord's iron and steel, and shoe 1 cart horse with his
own iron. Villein services differed from those exacted
on the flat clay lands of Ploughley hundred: in the hill
parishes of the Chilterns there was greater emphasis
on carrying and harvesting dues. The villein virgater
carried wood and corn until dinner-time. He
ploughed 1 acre for winter-sowing and another of
the fallow, and reaped 1 acre. The place of woods in
the village economy is shown by the virgater's dues
of ½d. pannage for a pig under 1 year and 1d. for
other pigs. Other dues were 1s. 1d. aid on St.
Andrew's Day (30 Nov.), a toll when he brewed ale
for sale, and a cock and three hens for church scot.
Two cottagers owed light hay-making and harvest
service and three free tenants ploughed like the unfree tenant, but reaped 2 acres and carted 9 loads of
hay. (fn. 317)

There were 13 virgates at Copcourt, where the
average rent was about 5s. a virgate. The hamlet was
entirely in the hands of prosperous tenants, undoubtedly freemen who had accumulated holdings. One,
John son of Adam, was perhaps the lord of Wormsley. There was only 1 single-virgate holding; three
tenants held 2 or 3 virgates each; the fifth held 5
virgates. Two tenants paid light labour dues as at
Aston, but the rest owed only rent, two of them to
Elias de Wheatfield, with forinsec dues to the lord of
Aston. (fn. 318) Chalford was a larger hamlet with at least
16 virgates and another 10 acres, once William of
Chalford's, which had been alienated from Aston
demesne. Wallingford Priory held the whole hamlet,
but no mention is made of a demesne farm, although
villein works were recorded. Four virgaters, 2 halfvirgaters, and 3 cottagers paid 4s. rent and 1s. 8d. aid
at Christmas, in proportion to their holding, and
hoed with 1 man for 3 days, reaped with 2 men for
2 days at their own expense, and mowed for 3 days
with 1 man at the lord's. Another 2 virgaters owed
only rent as did the 5 free tenants who held a virgate
or less each for varying sums. One held the watermill and a ½–virgate for 7s. and forinsec service to
the lord of Aston. (fn. 319)

In Kingston and Linley in 1279 there was a total
of 30 recorded villeins and 5 free tenants, some of
whom were certainly non-resident and others who
were tenants in Aston also. Between them they had
about 30 virgates. There was one large estate in
Kingston, Hugh le Blount's, with a demesne of 24
virgates (6 hides). Customary tenants comprised 5
virgaters and 7 half-virgaters, who paid high rents of
20s. a virgate. There were 3 cottars. The survey does
not mention any labour dues, but it is hard to believe
that none were exacted for so large a demesne. One
free tenant held 1 hide for 12s. rent, 10s. scutage, and
suit at Wallingford honor court; another held 2
virgates for 25s. and suit of court. Linley was divided
between two estates. John de Narnet had 2 virgates
in demesne; his villein tenants, 3 virgaters and 3
half-virgaters, paid rent at the rate of 16s. 4d. a
virgate; there were 2 cottars. No services were
recorded again. The free tenants, one of them the
Prior of Wallingford, held 3½ virgates between them.
These three also held on Ralf de Verney's estate in
Linley and Ralf's other 2 free tenants held land also
at Kingston. There were 4 virgates, 2 acres in their
hands. They paid rent, except for the prior, who for
his 2 virgates had to sing mass 3 times a week in
Linley chapel and pay forinsec service. Ralf de
Verney had 2 virgates in demesne. His one villein
virgater owed 4s. rent and 6s. aid at Christmas and
also performed labour dues. The light his services
throw on his status is of interest: he ploughed and
sowed an acre if he possessed a whole plough-team;
he hoed and harrowed one day each with 1 man and
reaped 3 days with 2 men at his own expenses; and
carried the lord's corn with 1 man and a horse and
cart. For this last service he received his meal and a
sheaf of corn in the evening from the last cart. He
also carried to Fleet Marston (Bucks.), when necessary. Every Christmas he carted ½-qr. of corn to the
mill, and he paid 2 white loaves, 3 gallons of ale, a
cock and 2 hens at the same season. Pannage was
exacted for all his pigs save the sow. He had also to
make the lord's essoins (i.e. excuses) at Wallingford
honor court, when so ordered. Three ½-virgaters
paid smaller rents and with the virgates had to mow
the lord's meadow. Each man was given a loaf and
they shared a sheep worth 1s., and flour and salt.
Three cottars paid rents (1s. and 3s.) and did light
hay-making and reaping services. (fn. 320)

Meadows and pastures along the banks of the
streams and on the hill slopes seem to have been
plentiful: in the mid-13th century the lord of Aston
agreed to let the tenants of the Abbot of Abingdon in
Studdridge (Lewknor) and their successors have
common rights in part of Aston pasture. (fn. 321) Meadowland was less highly valued than in many Oxfordshire parishes: in 1295 on Aston manor it was worth
20d. an acre, and in an extent of 1318 it was valued
at 18d. an acre. (fn. 322) At Aston as in Kingston some at
least of the meadow was distributed by lot: there is
mention in 1288 of rods of meadow being so assigned
in Linley Mead in Kingston, and the name Long
Dole for a Linley meadow is further evidence of the
custom. (fn. 323)

There is no early record of the arrangement of the
arable fields, but later developments make it certain
that Kingston and Aston had separate field systems,
and that Copcourt and Chalford may also have each
had their own fields or a joint field system. (fn. 324) An
East and West Field at Kingston was recorded in
1298, (fn. 325) but this is difficult to reconcile with the postmedieval divisions (fn. 326) and there may possibly have
been a third field, both in Kingston and in Aston. (fn. 327)

In the 14th century the tax lists supply some evidence for the development of the hamlets. At first
sight it is remarkable that in 1306 Kingston Blount
had more contributors than Aston had and that its
total contribution was higher. This apparent change
in the relative importance of the vills seems to have
been owing to the inclusion of Linley in Kingston,
whereas Aston's hamlets were of sufficient importance to be listed separately. (fn. 328) In 1306 there were 21
contributors at Kingston and 16 at Aston; in 1327,
14 compared with 11 at Aston, 9 at Chalford, and 4
at Copcourt. (fn. 329) Wealth was unevenly distributed:
apart from the knightly class there was a prosperous
group of small tenants that had far more land than
the average peasant. This class was more numerous
at Kingston, Chalford, and Copcourt than at Aston,
which as the hundred rolls of 1279 also show seems
to have been organized more in accordance with the
classic manorial pattern than were the other vills.
There were 9, for example, who paid 2s. to 8s. at
Kingston, while at Aston only 4 paid as much as
2s. (fn. 330) The relative wealth of the two townships is
emphasized in later tax lists after the reassessment of
1334, when Kingston's total tax (£2 16s. 7d.) was not
much more than half that of Aston together with its
two hamlets (£7 14s. 4d., 18s. 11d., and £1 2s. 9d.). (fn. 331)

The best evidence for the distribution of population at this time is the poll tax of 1377, although one
cannot put too much reliance on it as there may have
been more evasion at one place than another and,
moreover, it is not certain that the return is complete.
It gives 115 persons over 14 at Aston, 26 at Chalford,
and 72 at Kingston. (fn. 332) The inhabitants of Copcourt
were presumably included in the returns for Chalford and those of Linley in those of Kingston.

In the 15th and 16th centuries there is a little
evidence for a definite movement towards inclosure
and for the increasing wealth of a few families of
yeomen farmers and of gentry. It is likely that Copcourt and part of Chalford's fields were inclosed at this
period. It may be that the suit of 1488 over the breaking into a close at Copcourt is relevant: it was alleged
that the hay was mowed and crops worth £20 carried
off. (fn. 333) This close may have been no more than one of
the usual small hay-closes commonly found round
open-field villages, but inclosure, at all events, was
probably not long delayed. Copcourt was described
at the award of 1835 as 'an ancient inclosed farm', (fn. 334)
and its position at the extremity of the parish and its
proximity to that part of Chalford liberty which was
also an ancient inclosure point to early inclosure.
Among the few records of Chalford's early agricultural history is one that relates to another forcible
entry into an inclosure. The Prior of Wallingford
complained in 1333 that Sir Roger Rohant, the lord
of Aston, and others had broken into his close there,
burned his houses, taken away his cattle worth £50,
and impounded his plough-cattle until he paid a
fine of £5. (fn. 335) At this time the priory had a bailiff at
Chalford, but by 1360 it was leasing the manor to the
Rohants. (fn. 336) The probability, however, is that extensive inclosures were not made until the 16th century.
The initiative may have come from the Hester family.
A Robert Hester appears on the subsidy list of 1523
as a Chalford landowner, (fn. 337) and as Robert Hester, his
son presumably, was tenant by 1577 of the neighbouring farm of Sydenham Grange, which had long
been an inclosed sheep farm, (fn. 338) it is likely that his
Chalford land was contiguous and that he laid it
down to pasture.

Land at the southern end of the parish was also
being inclosed. Some of the closes at Linley and on
the slopes of the Chilterns that are first recorded at
this time may date from a much earlier period, (fn. 339) but
there are indications that the process of clearance of
the woodland was at least still going on. In 1604
Pigott's closes on Aston Hill are mentioned; they
consisted of 60 acres of woody close, arable, and pasture, lying between Red Lane and the lord's waste. (fn. 340)
In 1616 Walter's closes adjoining woodland on the
hill are recorded, and later evidence reveals that these
were arable closes; an extent of 1618 mentions eleven
closes belonging to Kingston manor, and in 1631
there is reference to two other closes, Lillies by
name, on Kingston Hill. (fn. 341) In a list of ten closes at
Aston that had once belonged to Nicholas Pigott
(fl. 1617) the names Bank Croft Furlong and Verne
Furlong show that parts of the open fields had been
inclosed, as well as the waste and the woodland. (fn. 342)
Other large closes such as 'Inland', the 'Moor', and
the 'Park', recorded in 1584, (fn. 343) may have been recent
inclosures, but their position and their names make it
perhaps more probable that they were demesne land
inclosed in the Middle Ages. (fn. 344)

It is not without significance that many of these
closes were in the hands of the most prosperous
yeoman farmers and of the gentry such as the Pigotts
and Belsons. (fn. 345) In 1523–4 out of a total tax of £7 2s.
7d. at Aston, £6 3s. 6d. was paid by Richard Pigott
and Eleanor and Robert Belson; at Kingston two
Belsons and Margaret Cornish paid £2 9s. out of a
total of £2 17s. 4d. (fn. 346) Some 50 years later a Robert
Belson was still the principal landowner and a Pigott
along with John Whytton and Henry Cripps, both
gentlemen, were among the most substantial contributors. (fn. 347) The descendants of the last soon moved
to the Cotswolds where they were well-known woolmen, (fn. 348) and it is worthy of note that the inquest in
1616 on Robert Belson's descendant Augustine
(II) Belson shows that he had been active in inclosing
land from the waste both in Aston and in Stokenchurch. (fn. 349) Some of these inclosures from the waste
may have been seven large closes above Warren
Wood on Aston Hill shown in a map of 1768. (fn. 350)

Evidence for 17th- and 18th-century farming
practice comes mainly from the map of Aston manor
of 1768, and from leases. From these a pretty clear
picture of the arrangement of the fields for at least
Aston, Chalford, and Copcourt can be obtained.
Tenants of Aston manor held open-field land in
both Aston and in Chalford liberty, and the openfield land of Chalford was clearly by this time
regarded as a part of Aston Lower Field. When furlongs are enumerated in the leases they are arranged
under the two main headings of Lower Field (i.e. the
land to the north of Aston village) and Upper or
South Field (sometimes also called Malthouse Field).
In leases, sometimes but not always, the furlongs
are divided in these fields into smaller fields: Upper
Field consisted of Malthouse, Oxford, Warren, and
Hester's Fields as a rule, (fn. 351) although one lease of
1760 lists the furlongs in South Field according to
their position above or below the Icknield Way, and
those in East Field (a division of South Field), also
according to their position either near or above the
Icknield Way. (fn. 352) In Lower Field the small fields
were West Field, Lower Middle Field, Sandy Field,
Little Field or Sparrow Bush Field, and Mead
Field. (fn. 353) Two of these fields lie north of the boundary
between Chalford liberty and Aston; two lie to the
south, and it is likely that Lower Middle Field,
which is mainly in Chalford but which stretches
across the boundary of the liberty, may once have had
a corresponding Upper Middle Field in Aston. (fn. 354) The
map shows that there were a number of large inclosures, both arable and pasture, and leases give
their acreage. Arable closes called Inlands and Little
London, for instance, amounted in 1698 to 66 acres,
pasture in Inlands to 12 acres, and a lease of 1746
mentions a close, the lower part of the Warren of
61 acres. (fn. 355) Most of the arable, however, was still in
the open fields and the strips still showed comparatively little sign of consolidation. One feature was the
widely spread balks of common pasture which were
scattered about within the furlongs. An extent of
1618 gives details for Combe furlong at that date:
it mentions 9 acres of pasture and 5 of arable there, (fn. 356)
and a picture of the distribution of pasture balks in
Aston field can be obtained from an estate map and
schedule of 1828. (fn. 357)

Kingston's arable was likewise in open-field furlongs, although no accurate record of their distribution has been recorded. There were two main
fields in the 17th century, Kingston Upper and
Lower Fields, which were divided into smaller
fields: (fn. 358) in 1829 into Lower, Middle, and North
fields in Lower Field; and North, Middle, and South
fields in Upper Field. (fn. 359) Balks of common pasture in
Kingston fields were also mentioned. (fn. 360) In 1647 the
owner of 5 acres was entitled to common for 8 sheep
in Kingston Blount fields and common pastures, and
a cottager had pasture for 1 cow and 10 sheep in
cowlease and other common fields. (fn. 361) There were
inclosures by the 17th century in the Moors between
Kingston and Aston, where the two Lower Moors and
Upper Moorlands were recorded. In 1649 a plot in
Kingston Middle Field was said to be 'late converted
into an orchard'. (fn. 362) Other documents also indicate the
continued importance of meadow and pasture in the
economy. About 70 acres and more of titheable
meadow in the parish were specified in a glebe
terrier of 1685, (fn. 363) and leases forbade the conversion
of grass to tillage or else charged £5 additional rent
for every acre ploughed up. (fn. 364) It may be noted that it
was the practice at least sometimes to take a second
hay crop: there is a record of the 'first crop' of Copcourt mead being taken in 1618. (fn. 365)

ASTON ROWANT AND KINGSTON BLOUNT C. 1800

The above map is based on an estate map of Aston Rowant (1768), the inclosure award (1832), the tithe
award (1842), and a Kingston Blount schedule (1829) and leases (Bodl. Libr. Ms. d.d. Clerke Brown c 2/9,
&c.) from which the approximate position of the Kingston fields has been plotted.

Among the crops grown in the 16th and 17th centuries, besides the main crops of wheat, barley, and
oats, were flax, hemp, hops, beans, vetch, and peas. (fn. 366)
A lease of the farm of Aston Rowant manor in 1610
permitted the tenant to sow peas, beans, and
barley in the spring on any of the premises except
the fallow. (fn. 367) Wheat as in the 18th century was doubtless the main crop. Arthur Young, writing at the turn
of the 18th century, commented that Aston fields produced above 5 quarters of wheat per acre, whereas
the south Oxfordshire average was 3 quarters. (fn. 368) He
makes no mention of any special rotation and it may
therefore be supposed that the common practice of
the neighbourhood was followed. (fn. 369)

The district was not without enterprising farmers.
Young noted that rag manure was used in Crowell
and its use in Aston also is proved by other evidence. (fn. 370)
In a lease of 1717 a yeoman tenant was to have 1 ton
of rags every year from Hambleden Wharf, as well as
cartloads of dung from Aston Rowant yards for the
first two years, (fn. 371) and the fortunes of the Hill family
were established by the carriage of local hay and
straw to London livery stables. (fn. 372) Mr. Good of Kingston Stert, furthermore, was amongst the first farmers in the county to own a threshing machine. (fn. 373)

The trend towards larger farms and the accumulation of capital in fewer hands which has been noted
in the 16th century continued to make steady progress. By 1700 the 1,010 strips in Aston field
(mostly ½-acre to 5-acre strips) were farmed by 17
men of whom 5 had large holdings of 114 to 203
strips and 4 had 58 to 91 strips. (fn. 374) Robert Hester
farmed and owned 99 strips, but nearly all the rest of
the land was owned by 4 landowners. Of these John
Clerke, lord of the manor, held nearly a third of the
strips. (fn. 375) In 1769 the Aston Rowant estate included 4
farms, 2 in the village with 175 acres and 287 acres,
one on the Hill of 77 acres, called Warren farm (later
Upper Hill farm), the other lower down (known
later as the Drum and Plough, Lower Hill, or Warren
farm) of 112 acres. The 287-acre farm in the village
incorporated a farm of 71 acres. Rents ranged from
£47 to £150. (fn. 376) General Caillaud bought out some
smallholdings in the 1770's and 1780's and still
further increased his estate. (fn. 377) The lists of ratepayers
found in the churchwardens' accounts give the same
picture of capital accumulation. (fn. 378) A rate levied in
1797 was paid in spite of rising population by 45
ratepayers, instead of the 88 who paid a similar rate in
1731. (fn. 379) Even in Kingston where smallholders predominated two farmers were respectively paying rents
of £98 and £132, compared with the majority of ratepayers who paid £10 and under. (fn. 380) Land-tax returns
show that the process was continued into the 19th
century and at an accelerated pace. (fn. 381)

At Kingston the number of small property owners,
assessed at under £2, declined in the period 1786–1832 from 48 to twelve. Property owners assessed at
over £2 also declined from 12 in 1786 to 4 in 1832.
The number of tenants remained fairly steady over
the same period, i.e. about 7 cottagers, 2 to 3 smallholders, and 5 or 6 tenant farmers. The small owner,
in fact, whether he occupied or leased his land was
being bought out by the large landowner, in this
case the Browns, and both tenant and owneroccupied farms were being increased in size. (fn. 382) There
was a similar trend at Aston after 1800, when there
was a marked decline in the number of landowners
assessed at under £2, i.e. from 14 in 1786 to 6 in
1832. Tenants also fluctuated between 18 in 1786
and 10 in 1832. The large landowner, however, was
always a constant figure in this part of the parish. In
1786 all but £16 of Aston's total assessment of £159
was provided by 7 landowners of whom General
Caillaud, lord of Aston, was by far the largest, paying
well over one-third of the total. In 1832, his successor Sir John Lambert paid over a half. (fn. 383)

It was evidently the number of small landowners
at Kingston that delayed inclosure of the common
fields of Aston and Kingston. It finally came in
1832–5, (fn. 384) after the holdings ranging from ¼-acre to
58 acres of some 23 farmers had been bought up.
Some 72 acres were sold before 1816, but most of the
selling (260 a.) took place in 1824–6 and immediately
before the award, mainly to Sir John Lambert, who
bought out 7 smallholders, and John Brown, who
bought out about 10, as well as to Samuel Turner and
Henry Alexander Brown. (fn. 385) At inclosure Sir John
Lambert, lord of Aston Rowant, received over 480
acres mainly in Aston, including 92 acres for rectorial
tithe and 8 acres for manorial rights, equal to onethird of the commons and waste. John Brown, lord of
Kingston Blount, was allotted about 300 acres for his
own and his wife's property, which included only
1 a. 2 r. 30 p. for a third of the waste of Kingston
Blount; his brother Henry Alexander Brown, who
had bought 'The Grove' in 1824 (i.e. Walter's
closes), (fn. 386) received about 145 acres. Samuel Turner,
who was in the act of buying up Chinnor, received 106
acres for the rectorial tithes of Kingston Blount and
75 acres for his other property. Another allottee,
Thomas Parker, received 130 acres. (fn. 387) There were
nine small allotments of 25 acres to ¼-acre, of which
two went to Thomas Filbee and Henry Hill, who
had also bought up small properties before inclosure. Other allottees, like Watkins and Rixon, were
survivors of the many yeoman families that had
at one time flourished in the parish. (fn. 388) The total
acreage allotted was 1,151 acres in the open fields and
365 acres of common and waste, including the common woodland. (fn. 389)

As in Chinnor woods there were customary rights
in Kingston woods known as hillworks ('hillwerkes'). (fn. 390)
Their history, as at Chinnor, must go back to the
Middle Ages, but the first notice of the custom here
occurs in the 16th century, when in 1579 hillwork
was synonymous with 'hegging wood'. (fn. 391) In 1610 six
cartloads of estovers in Kingston were to be taken in
the 'hillworks'; (fn. 392) about the same date 5 acres of land
carried with it the right to half a load of 'hillworks'
every two years; (fn. 393) and there are frequent other 17thand 18th-century records of leases of 'hillworks'. (fn. 394)
The right must have been once enjoyed by all tenants, but by the 18th century it was appropriated to
the poor, as at Chinnor. The Act of 1832 preserved
this customary right to take brushwood or fuel from
the 'poor's hillock' ('hillock' being a corruption of
hillwork). (fn. 395) In 1835 the award allotted 12 a. 3 r. 24 p.
to the lord of the manor so that they might continue
to be used for the purpose. (fn. 396) In 1864 the Poor Common or 'hillock' was bought by John Brown, the
squire, from the trustees of the poor of Kingston
Blount and the right to cut wood was extinguished in
return for 4 acres of land, thereafter used for allotment gardens. (fn. 397)

Copcourt had long been entirely inclosed and
consisted in the 1830s of two large dairy farms of
which one was in Aston and the other in Lewknor
parish. (fn. 398) In 1840 there were 99 acres of arable and
178 of meadow in the Aston part of Copcourt. (fn. 399) Chalford also had long been partly inclosed and the process was completed in 1858. (fn. 400) Before complete inclosure it was divided into two farms, Manor farm
(258 a.) and Chalford Green farm (191 a.), with 274
acres of inclosed meadow between them and 186
acres of arable, mostly in the open fields. (fn. 401) By the
award in 1858 all but about 2 acres of the 254
allotted went to the landlord, William Lowndes
Stone. (fn. 402)

In the later 19th century most of the parish
formed part of two or three landed estates, belonging
to Taylor, Wykeham-Musgrave, and Clerke Brown.
Few small farmers survived into the 1850s. Lambert's Aston estate comprised 954 acres with a yearly
value of £1,766. There were four farms on it, but
they were let as two to tenant farmers, one with 560
acres in Lower Field farm (352 a.) and Woodway
farm (208 a.); the other had 184 acres in Upper and
Lower Hill farms (c. 80 a. and 103 a.). (fn. 403) In 1860
Thomas Taylor paid £33,549 for these farms together with Aston village (fn. 404) and settled down at Aston
House. By 1871 he had nearly 600 acres of estate in
hand, including Home (i.e. Lower Field) farm. (fn. 405) At
the time of his death in 1889 his other property was
let as three farms. (fn. 406) At Kingston the greater part of
the land had been held by the Browns since 1824. (fn. 407)
In 1851 there had been six farms: two were of under
100 acres, but Henry Alexander Brown's farm at
'The Grove' was 255 acres. Copcourt and Chalford
at this date were still divided into three large farms
of over 200 acres. (fn. 408)

In the 20th century the break-up of two of the
larger estates brought some changes in ownership,
but few in the size of farms. By 1912 Sir William
Plowden, Taylor's successor at Aston Rowant, held
only about half the village, including Home farm. (fn. 409)
The Wykeham-Musgrave farms in Copcourt and
Chalford came under separate ownership after 1917;
by 1939 there were only two farms, both over 150
acres, in this part of the parish. (fn. 410) The Clerke Browns,
however, still remained the predominant landowners
in Kingston, where most of the land was farmed from
'The Grove' and Lower farms, both over 200 acres. (fn. 411)
There were still two smallholders with about 50
acres each in 1939. (fn. 412)

In 1859 the Aston Rowant estate was described as
'one of the richest corn-growing vales in Oxfordshire'; only about 70 to 80 acres of the four farms
were laid down to grass at this time. (fn. 413) Considerably
more—over 200 acres—was described as pasture in
1889, mainly because of the enlarging of Aston
Rowant Park by Thomas Taylor. (fn. 414) Nothing is
known about the proportion of pasture at Kingston
Blount, but there is no reason to suppose that the
land was not mainly arable as at Aston.

In 1914 the parish had a high percentage of land
under wheat. (fn. 415) The grass on the chalk was said to be
poor, (fn. 416) but the water-meadows in Aston were good. (fn. 417)
Chalford and Copcourt farms continued to be largely
pasture, and were described in 1917 as freehold
dairy-farms while Manor farm was said to be 'wellwatered pasture and sound arable'. (fn. 418) As in Chinnor,
watercress has proved a marketable produce in the
20th century and its cultivation was encouraged by
the advent of the railway. (fn. 419) One of the most valuable
assets of the parish has continued to be the woods. In
1769 86 acres of Aston Warren woods were valued at
£1,381, including 36 acres worth £25 an acre; the
timber 'at the Town' (i.e. in Aston House grounds)
was valued at £651. An old orchard was used as a
nursery for raising trees. (fn. 420) The woodland all became
privately owned after inclosure and more attention
was paid to planting. (fn. 421) In 1852 the parish was said to
include 320 acres of unrated woodland; (fn. 422) in 1859
the Aston estate had 130 acres; in 1871 225 acres of
wood, including the Poor's Hillock, were unrated
and by 1925 there were 242 acres of woodland on
Aston and Kingston hills. (fn. 423)

The introduction of mechanized farming has considerably reduced the number of persons employed
in agriculture in the parish, and today (1958) many of
the inhabitants are retired persons or are engaged in
work outside their villages. The evidence for the
occupations of the villagers in the past, apart from
work in the fields, is fragmentary. There is mention
of a 13th-century goldsmith, and later of a mason, a
tanner, a cordwainer, and a tailor. (fn. 424) The woodland
must have provided a variety of tasks and its influence on the economy is reflected in the names of
many of the witnesses to charters. There was, for
example, Geoffrey the Woodward or Forester (possibly two different men) of Aston, a substantial man
as his contribution to the subsidy of 1306 proves, and
John the Woodward. (fn. 425) Millers there must have been
from early times at Chalford water-mill and at Kingston. Both were presented in 1341 for exacting excessive toll; in 1542 there were three Kingston millers
and one was also a brewer. (fn. 426) Apart from a tailor recorded in 1629, and in 1682 a maltster, a vagrant
woman who was a bottomer of chairs, and a shoemaker who was also a 'practicioner in physics', (fn. 427)
there is no further information about tradesmen or
craftsmen until the 18th century. It then appears that
Kingston Blount, which was on the highway and
more centrally situated than Aston was, and where
there was much freehold property, was favoured by
the non-agriculturalists. The following trades commonly occur: lacemaker, collarmaker, carpenter, and
shoemaker. A chemist is recorded in 1713, (fn. 428) a
maltster, two tailors, father and son, a wheelwright,
and brickmakers and a brick-kiln between 1729 and
1739. (fn. 429) Stephen Day, son of a vicar of Aston, was a distiller using the spring at Kingston Stert, and his son
Stephen was a calenderer and clothmaker. (fn. 430) Chalk
pits are frequently mentioned, (fn. 431) but some at least of
the chalk was dug for use in Stokenchurch brickkiln belonging to the Clerkes. (fn. 432)

A full picture is provided by the census of 1851. It
fully establishes Kingston Blount's country-town
character: not far short of half those at work were
employed in various trades, 48 as against 71 farm
labourers. The list of tradesmen includes 5 smiths, 6
wheelwrights and carpenters, 6 bricklayers and
builders, 8 grocers, butchers, and bakers, 4 shoemakers and tailors, 6 seamstresses and laundresses,
29 lacemakers, 3 chair-turners, a wine merchant, a
corndealer, and a brewer-maltster. Nearby Kingston
Stert also had a beer retailer. There were four
Kingston carriers, one of whom went to London
three times a week. Aston, on the other hand, had
only four persons occupied in crafts, its innkeeper,
schoolmaster, and schoolmistress, and a commercial
clerk. There were 25 lacemakers, but these were
mostly married women or young girls. (fn. 433)

By this time the population of the parish had
reached its peak and the differences in development
between the villages, which was already marked in
the 16th century, had become still more apparent.
The first reliable evidence for the number of inhabitants comes from the Compton Census of 1676:
it records 290 persons of sixteen and over. (fn. 434) The
return made by the vicar in 1738 gives precise details
of the number of dwellings and puts beyond dispute
the rapid growth of Kingston compared with Aston.
There were 23 houses at Aston, 9 at Chalford, 4 at
Copcourt, 49 at Kingston and 7 at Kingston Stert,
making 92 in all. (fn. 435) The record is particularly interesting when compared with the returns for the hearth tax
of 1662: then 24 householders were listed at Aston, 19
at Kingston, and 6 at Chalford. (fn. 436) The explanation may
be that the tradesmen at Kingston were more skilful
at evasion or more probably there were a greater
number of persons who had houses worth less than
20s. a year, or were classed as too poor to contribute.

The prolonged war and the social changes at the
turn of the 18th century led to a sharp increase in
population from 787 in 1811 to 946 in 1831. After a
slight decline numbers touched 900 again in 1851. (fn. 437)
By this date Copcourt was a 'deserted' hamlet with 1
agricultural labourer and 1 servant at work; at
Chalford there were 13 labourers and 4 servants; on
Aston Hill a gamekeeper, a shepherd, and 3 labourers;
at Aston itself 44 labourers including children and
32 indoor and outdoor servants; and at Kingston
71 labourers and 48 tradesmen and craftsmen. (fn. 438)
After 1851 population fell slowly until the agricultural depression of the 1870's produced an abrupt
drop from 840 in 1871 to 640 in 1881. (fn. 439) In the 20th
century the population has continued to decline to
532 in 1911 and 496 in 1951. (fn. 440)

Parish Government.

Apart from the record
of a few 14th- and 15th-century courts for view of
frankpledge, held by the steward of Wallingford
honor, no medieval records of manorial courts have
survived. (fn. 441) Records of Aston Rowant court baron
survice for some years in the late 16th century. (fn. 442)
The September court of 1583 appointed 'le hogherd'
to keep pigs all the year round in Aston commons,
regulated the times for pasturing sheep, and fixed
shares for paying the hayward at 8d. a virgate. (fn. 443)
Court barons were also held in the 17th and 18th
centuries, but only notes of Stokenchurch business
have survived. (fn. 444) In 1780 General Caillaud's court
baron met at the 'Drum and Plough' and made presentments of the inclosing of part of the manor's
waste for gardens, and arranged to perambulate the
manor. (fn. 445) In 1830 the court of William Francis
Stone, Esq., was held at Chalford manor-house for
ascertaining the manor boundaries. (fn. 446) Courts of
Ewelme honor (the successor of Wallingford) were
held into the 19th century and courts for the
Stokenchurch division often met in Aston Rowant. (fn. 447)

Local government, however, was mainly conducted
through the vestry. There were two churchwardens:
from 1739 to 1756 the churchwarden nominated by
the vicar rendered the Aston accounts, and the
churchwarden elected by the parish, Kingston's accounts. A change in the method of election appears
to have taken place at the end of this period, for after
a gap of four years in the accounts one churchwarden
was chosen for each village. (fn. 448) From 1733 rates
were collected every two years. The rate was
usually 1d.–3d. in the pound, but rose to 4d. or 6d.
when money was needed for repairs to the church
or its property (e.g. 1733–4, 1739–40, 1779–80,
and 1797–8). The sums raised at Aston were nearly
double those raised at Kingston, but expenses
were also heavier at Aston and on several occasions
could only be met by a contribution from the
balance in hand at Kingston. (fn. 449) After 1815 a simplification in accounting was introduced: a disbursement account was kept and the rates collected
from the three liberties of Aston, Kingston, and
Chalford were amalgamated, and accounted for by
both churchwardens. The rates were supplemented
with the income received from the church lands
which amounted to £5 a year in the 1820's compared with £2 8s. in 1733. (fn. 450) Five or six parishioners
usually attended the vestry meeting. The vicar was
not always present. In 1813 there was an unusually
big attendance of twelve to discuss the opening of a
school. (fn. 451)

An overseer for each of the three liberties was
elected at the Easter vestry meeting, and their election
was later confirmed by two J.P.'s, who verified the
accounts. A rota of 7 or 8 of the principal farmers
served as overseers at Aston and Kingston, and members of Chalford's two farming families, the Whites
and the Stephens, served alternately. A uniform rate
was levied for the whole parish, but each overseer
kept separate accounts. (fn. 452)

The strain of prolonged war and the rapid increase
of population in the second half of the 18th century
created problems of an unprecedented nature at the
beginning of the 19th century. When the hearth tax
was levied in 1665 four of the householders of Aston
and one each at Kingston and Chalford were discharged on account of poverty, but these figures give
no information about the very poor who were exempted from the tax. (fn. 453) It is known that by 1770 cottages,
then belonging to the overseers, had been built on
the waste to house the poor: four families were
living in them, (fn. 454) and by 1776 the official figure for
expenditure on the poor was £90 at Aston, £60 at
Chalford, and £50 at Kingston, where the inhabitants
were less dependent on agriculture. (fn. 455) The rate rose
from 4s. in the pound in 1798 to 11s. in 1830, but
with a sharp temporary rise between 1799 and 1802.
There was an exceptionally high rate of 12s. 6d. in
1800, when a total sum of £1,795 was spent: of
this Aston paid about £80 more than Kingston,
despite its far smaller population. (fn. 456) The size of
the problem in this parish is further demonstrated
by the fact that in 1803 when there are official figures
of poor relief for the whole county the rate at Aston
was nearly a third more than the county average. In
that year 84 men and women were receiving parish
relief and 140 children were being maintained. (fn. 457) The
disbursements made by the overseers were of the usual
kind. Money was paid out for nursing the sick and
for the apothecary's bills, particularly when there were
cases of smallpox; for children's clothes; for rent,
coal, and wood for the indigent; for funerals and
occasionally for transport. During 1800, 'the year of
great scarcity', £45 was spent on weekly payments to
widows and others who were in need of regular support. Two-thirds of the expenditure, however, was
as a general rule on weekly payments to widows and
others for this purpose. Lack of employment for
the able-bodied was the chief trouble: it was partly
met by the roundsmen system. In 1797 £18 was paid
to roundsmen in Kingston, of whom some were sent
to work in Chalford, and the Aston overseers subsidized twelve employers of roundsmen. In 1813 the
overseers provided half the pay for the 'rounds boys'.

The overseers were also responsible for the upkeep
of the 'College houses' or 'Poors House', and for the
pest house. In 1839 they delegated the repair of the
latter. It was apparently being used as an extra
dwelling and the parish meeting agreed that Thomas
White of Chalford should hold in his possession that
part in which Thomas Wiggins lived at a rent of 1s.,
and should undertake the repair of the whole house. (fn. 458)

Some administrative changes are shown in the
rate books (1821–35). Two overseers and two churchwardens were jointly responsible at this period for
the accounts; the rates were levied eight times a year
instead of irregularly; and after the new valuation
in 1833 the rate-payers of the three liberties were
amalgamated into one alphabetical list. It should be
noted, however, that even before the amalgamation
the total sum raised had always been divided according to need. Aston's rich ratepayers, for example, had
paid £20 to £60 a year from their balance to Kingston between 1808 and 1814. Chalford's nearly
always had a surplus and in 1805 more than half the
sum raised was handed over. In that year Kingston
made an attempt to increase her total by levying a
rate on 93 inhabitants instead of on the usual 27 or so.
This experiment only gained a few pounds and was
not repeated. In fact Kingston traders and farmers
were evidently doing badly in the early 19th century,
for a 4s. rate produced only £172 in 1829 compared
with £207 in 1798. (fn. 459)

Churches.

The early history of Aston, which
seems to have been a royal estate, and the position of
Aston as head of a deanery make it likely that there
was a very early church. There can be little doubt
that it was in existence at the time of Domesday,
at the latest. It may have been given to Wallingford Priory in the early 12th century by Maud, the
daughter of Robert d'Oilly, who had founded the
priory. (fn. 460) She is known to have given Chalford
manor in Aston to Wallingford, (fn. 461) and although no
grant of the church has survived it was certainly in
the possession of the priory by the early 13th century. The priory had appropriated the church and
ordained a vicarage before 1219. (fn. 462) By this time, too,
the dependent chapelry at Stokenchurch was in
existence. (fn. 463)

The priory normally presented to the vicarage.
When in 1360 it leased the rectory with Chalford
manor to Lady Eleanor Rohant the advowson was
excepted. (fn. 464) In 1369 the Pope provided, as he may
have done again in 1371, on the vicar's resignation
while at the papal court. (fn. 465) Although the advowson
was leased in 1473 with Chalford manor for 30 years,
Wallingford is recorded as presenting until 1510. (fn. 466)
In that year the presentation was granted to Isabel
Pigott and her son Richard, members of a local
family, and in 1520 to William Young, Esq. After
the dissolution of Wallingford, the priory and its
possessions, including the advowson of Aston, were
granted in 1528 to Cardinal Wolsey for his Oxford
college. (fn. 467) On Wolsey's fall they reverted to the
Crown, which in 1531 granted the advowson, but
not the rectory, to St. Albans Abbey, of which
Wallingford had been a cell. (fn. 468) On the dissolution of
St. Albans in 1539 the Crown kept the advowson. (fn. 469)
Presentations were made by the Lord Chancellor
until 1855, when Aston was one of several livings
exchanged with the Bishop of Oxford. (fn. 470) In 1948 the
livings of Aston and Crowell were united. (fn. 471) The
bishop and Mr. W. H. Wykeham-Musgrave present
alternately to the new joint rectory.

In the Middle Ages the rectory consisted of the
tithes of Aston, Kingston, and part of Chalford, and
probably of some land. It had been leased by
Wallingford Priory to the Hester family, (fn. 472) and the
descent of the rectory after the dissolution of Wallingford probably followed that of Chalford manor until
the death of Bartholomew Belson in 1575, (fn. 473) and
perhaps until the mid-17th century. (fn. 474) From 1684 to
1741 the rectory was in the possession of the Pryce
family of Worminghall (Bucks.). (fn. 475) By the early 18th
century the tithes of Kingston and Aston were held
separately. (fn. 476) In 1786 Aston rectory belonged to
Thomas Blackall and followed the descent of Great
Milton manor until at least 1829. (fn. 477) In 1835 Sir
Henry Lambert, lord of Aston manor, held the
tithes of Aston, and Samuel Turner those of Kingston, while those of Chalford belonged to the various
owners of the land. (fn. 478) In 1954 no lay rector was
known. (fn. 479)

The rectory was one of the richer ones in Aston
deanery, being valued at £20 in 1254 and at £21
6s. 8d. in 1291, plus the pension to Bec Abbey. (fn. 480)
In 1523, its value, with the manor of Chalford,
was £33 0s. 9d. (fn. 481) By the early 18th century the
rectory was said to be worth over £500 a year. (fn. 482) At
the inclosure award of 1835 the rectorial tithes of
Aston were commuted for 90 acres and those of
Kingston for 108 acres. (fn. 483) The tithes of Chalford
were commuted in 1840: Sir Henry Lambert
received a rent charge of £90 7s. for the tithes of 256
acres; William Stone, who owned Manor farm,
received £72; and there were two small charges. (fn. 484)

When the vicarage was ordained after the appropriation of the church the priory apparently received the glebe, since no church lands were
specifically assigned to the vicar. (fn. 485) An early-13thcentury grant to Wallingford of 6½ acres of arable
and a rood of meadow in 'Winterdole,' once held by
John the vicar, is recorded and the rectorial glebe is
mentioned in 1341, but no further record has been
found. (fn. 486)

Probably before 1087 Miles Crispin made a grant
of tithes to Bec, which included the small tithes of
his demesne in Aston and Kingston and also of the
mill in Aston. (fn. 487) In the 13th century these tithes were
collected by the custodian of Bec's manor of Bledlow
(Bucks.). (fn. 488) In 1291 they were valued at £3 13s. 4d.
and were still received by Bec in the 15th century. (fn. 489)
When the abbey lost its English property some, including the tithes of Aston, were granted to the Duke
of Bedford. (fn. 490)

Before the vicarage was ordained the vicar seems
to have received the income from the church and
paid the priory a pension of £3 and 1 besant. (fn. 491)
According to the ordination, made between 1216
and 1219, the vicar was to receive the oblations and
small tithes of Aston and Stokenchurch, and all the
tithes of 8 virgates in Copcourt in Aston parish. In
return he was to be responsible for services in both
the church and chapel. (fn. 492) In 1254 the vicarage was
valued at £1 6s. 8d., in 1291 at £4 6s. 8d., and in
1535 at £16 18s. 11d. (fn. 493) At that time it was a wellendowed vicarage, but since the vicar had a few
years previously been paying £6 a year each to
curates at Aston and Stokenchurch, his profit was
not great. (fn. 494) By the 16th century the vicar also paid a
pension of 5s. to Wallingford, the origin of which
has not been found. (fn. 495)

The earliest terriers of the vicarage, dating from
the 1680's, show that the vicar still received his income from the same sources. (fn. 496) He had all the church
fees and small tithes in Aston, Kingston, Chalford,
and Stokenchurch; all the tithes from 8 yardlands in
Copcourt; and some meadow tithes. For some of his
tithes he received a payment in cash, but most were
still paid in kind. He claimed that before the Civil
War he used to receive 6 loads of the largest billets
from the woods known as Fastwoods, but that since
the war the owner, John Clerke, had refused to pay.
By the early 19th century more money payments had
been introduced, especially in Stokenchurch, where
3½d. per acre in place of all vicarial tithes was paid.
The rise in prices is shown by the tithe on a cow,
which had risen from 3d. in 1685 to 5s. 3d. in 1802. (fn. 497)
In 1808 the value of the living was about £148. (fn. 498)

By the inclosure award of 1835 the vicar's tithes in
Aston and Kingston were commuted for 63 acres; in
1840 the tithes on Copcourt farm were commuted
for a rent charge of £72 10s. and his share of the
Chalford tithes for £12 12s. (fn. 499) This last amount
would have been larger had it not been for a modus of
£2 4s., which he received from Manor farm in Chalford. In 1855 the value of the vicarage was about
£190. (fn. 500) It was augmented in 1909 by a grant of £44
from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. (fn. 501)

Before the inclosure award the vicar's only glebe,
apart from his garden, was an acre in Kingston
Upper Field called Vicar's Acre. This, together with
a 'very ruinous and decayed cottage' at Stokenchurch,
was sold in 1800. (fn. 502) The glebe which the vicar owned
in the 19th century dated from the inclosure, when
he was given 48 acres, known as Glebe farm, in
Kingston Stert (for the tithes of Kingston) and 15
acres in the Lower Field of Aston (for the tithes of
Aston). (fn. 503) This land, which formed more than half
the value of the living, was sold in 1920. (fn. 504)

According to the terms of the ordination of the
vicarage the vicar was supposed to reside and serve
the church in person. (fn. 505) He was also responsible for
services at Stokenchurch, and probably also for those
in the chapel at Linley, which is mentioned in 1279. (fn. 506)
Medieval vicars were not outstanding: there was one
13th-century graduate, Richard de Belvero, presented in 1260–1; (fn. 507) another may have been involved in the scandal of 1294, when certain persons
who had fled to the church for sanctuary were
chained up. Sir Alan son of Roland, who had been excommunicated for this crime was absolved and those
who had done the chaining were cited to appear before
the bishop. (fn. 508) Some vicars served as feoffees in local
land transactions; (fn. 509) and in 1459 Thomas Pigott, a
member of a prominent local family, was given the
cure. There is evidence that there was some neglect:
in the 1520's the parish was served by a curate; no
distributions were made to the poor, the churchyard
was not well fenced, and the churchwardens were
behind in their accounts. In addition the chancel,
Wallingford's responsibility, was ruinous. (fn. 510) However, soon afterwards Nicholas Astley (1520–55),
who acted as steward to Sir Adrian Fortescue, was
living in Aston, for he frequently served as a witness
to local wills and was accused by some of his parishioners of usury and illegal trade in grain. (fn. 511)

Post-Reformation vicars were usually resident
until the mid-18th century. John Salter (1555–73),
who had probably been a monk of St. Albans and
never seems to have married, lived in the parish and
was buried in the chancel. (fn. 512) He was followed by
Richard Larke (1573–81), a Fellow of Magdalen
College, who was appointed on the recommendation
of the zealous Protestant Laurence Humphrey. (fn. 513)
Ralph Skinner (1629–48), vicar under Charles I,
evidently lived in one of the best houses in the
village: it had six rooms—parlour, hall, kitchen, three
bedrooms, and a buttery. (fn. 514) During the Commonwealth period there was probably a minister with
Presbyterian views, for at the Restoration he gave up
the living. (fn. 515) In the 18th century Matthew Hawes
(1723–61) reported that he resided constantly in the
Vicarage; he held two Sunday services at Aston in
the summer and one in winter, as the short afternoons made it impossible to get back in time from
Stokenchurch where he had also to perform the
duty; the children were catechized in Lent, and the
sacrament was administered five times a year to
about 50 communicants. (fn. 516) But in 1761 the new vicar
John Newborough (1761–95), who lived at Thame
where he also held the living, appointed a curate to
take charge of the parish, and during the following
decades there was only one Sunday service and the
number of communion services was reduced to
three a year. (fn. 517) The churchwardens considered the
parish neglected, and presented the vicar for his
non-residence and for the lack of prayers on Sunday
afternoons and on saints' days, especially Good
Friday. (fn. 518)

During the long incumbency of John Holland
(1795–1844), who came to live in the parish after
rebuilding at great expense the Vicarage, by then
'very ancient' and in a bad state, (fn. 519) more frequent
services were held. When there was a sermon the
congregation was said to reach three hundred. (fn. 520) In
the last year of his life he had as curate Alexander
Penrose Forbes, a noted High Church theologian,
later Bishop of Brechin. (fn. 521) But by the 1850's the
number of communicants had fallen to some 35, and
the congregation was also said to be falling owing to
the influence of dissent. (fn. 522)

By the 1870's there was a renewal of church life.
Weekly communion was given and the number of
communicants had increased to about 100; the congregations were also growing larger; and the vicar
held evening schools and Bible classes. (fn. 523) In 1877 he
was helped by the building of the Anglican chapel at
Kingston Blount, where dissent was strongest. (fn. 524) It
is still a chapel of Aston Rowant.

From at least the early 13th century until the 19th
century Stokenchurch was a chapelry of Aston
Rowant and named after the same saints, Peter and
Paul. Although administratively annexed to Aston,
Stokenchurch had an independent ecclesiastical life,
for by the early 13th century it had its own churchyard. (fn. 525) The rectorial tithes of Stokenchurch, like
those of Aston, belonged in the Middle Ages to
Wallingford Priory, and these, with a tenement
called Prior's Grove, are said to have been considered
a manor. After the dissolution of Wallingford, the
rectory came into the possession of Sir William
Spencer (d. 1609), who in his will left instructions
for its sale. (fn. 526) After this there was no single lay rector,
but the tithes were split up among many owners,
each landowner usually having the tithes on his own
land. (fn. 527) This was still the unusual situation in 1844
when the tithes were commuted. (fn. 528) The vicarial tithes,
until the 19th century, belonged to the Vicar of
Aston. (fn. 529)

Since Stokenchurch was a chapelry, arrangements
for the repair of the church fabric were unusual. The
owners of the rectorial tithes were responsible, with
the lay rectors of Aston, for the repair of Aston
chancel, but not for the repair of Aston nave. (fn. 530) On
the other hand the chancel of Stokenchurch was
repaired by the parishioners and not the lay rectors
of Stokenchurch, although some of the parishioners
objected to contributing. (fn. 531) Aston had some church
lands, (fn. 532) and for the repair and decoration of Stokenchurch church there were also two houses called
Church Houses, one of which was ruinous in the 16th
century, (fn. 533) and several acres of land. According to
Thomas Delafield, in the 18th century this land was
'perverted and shamefully abused', the income being
used for communion bread and wine, for ale for the
bell-ringers, and for the upkeep of the roads. (fn. 534)

By the early-13th-century ordination of Aston
vicarage, the Vicar of Aston was responsible for services at Stokenchurch, (fn. 535) and the curate of Stokenchurch was chosen and paid by him. (fn. 536) By the 16th
century, and probably before, Stokenchurch had
been provided with its own curate and had its own
churchwardens, (fn. 537) and thus matters continued. In 1680
or 1681 the parishioners petitioned the bishop, saying
that for at least 60 years the parish had had its own
curate, but that now the Vicar of Aston, Thomas
Reynolds, refused to provide one unless the parishioners paid him £10 a year, a condition they considered 'new and unusual, hard and unreasonable'.
For the last four Sundays, although he had promised
to send someone to read the service, there had been no
service. If he tried to serve both parishes himself,
they foresaw that he would 'starve both his flock at
home and us also'. (fn. 538) Soon after they were given their
own curate, John Day, who is said to have excluded
the vicar. (fn. 539) In 1702 he became Vicar of Aston and
was visited there by Rawlinson, who described him
as 'very communicative'. (fn. 540) In the 18th century
Stokenchurch ceased having its own curate and was
served by either the Vicar or the curate of Aston.
Thus only Sunday afternoon services were held (fn. 541)
until the 19th century, when it again had its own
curate, in 1834 a member of the Fane family of
Wormsley. (fn. 542)

In the 18th century there was some confusion
about the status of Stokenchurch. Delafield wrote of
it as separated from Aston, (fn. 543) and sometimes it is called
a parish church, sometimes a chapel, and its wardens
sometimes churchwardens and sometimes chapel
wardens. (fn. 544) Its registers date from 1707, but were
evidently kept before then. (fn. 545) Although registered for
marriages in 1837, this merely confirmed a longstanding arrangement. (fn. 546) The Vicar of Aston wanted
Stokenchurch 'regularly separated' from Aston, and
in 1844 it was made into a separate benefice. (fn. 547)

The church of ST. PETER AND ST. PAUL is
a comparatively large building of flint with stone
dressings. It comprises a nave with chapels on the
north and south sides, a chancel, a south porch, and
west tower. (fn. 548) The north and south walls of the nave
date from the late 11th or early 12th century. One
deeply splayed Romanesque window, nearly above
the south doorway, is in its original position. A
similar one, now in the north wall of the north aisle,
together with a plain Romanesque doorway, were
moved from their original position in a part of the
north wall of the nave that was demolished in 1874.
They are now exactly opposite their former position.

In the early 13th century a new doorway, with
plain chamfered jambs and pointed arch, was made
in the south wall of the nave. The chancel was rebuilt towards the end of the century and retains the
two simple two-light windows of the period. To this
period also belongs the font, supported on eight
detached shafts of Purbeck marble; the basin is
decorated with an arcade of recessed lancets. (fn. 549)

Considerable changes were made in the 14th century, the main ones being the erection of a threestoried tower at the west end, and the construction
of the north and south chapels or aisles. Both were of
two bays, the third bay of the north arcade being
added in the 19th century. A south porch with a
marble stoup was added, a window was inserted in
the south wall of the nave at the west end, and two
Decorated tomb recesses were made in the north
chapel. A part of the stairs of the medieval rood loft
remains.

During the 15th century the nave was made
lighter by the insertion of a window in the north wall,
and the clerestory was built. This entailed a new
roof of lower pitch than the original one.

Beyond the fact that the chancel was reported out
of repair in about 1520, (fn. 550) almost nothing is known of
the state of the fabric until the early 18th century,
when some repairs to the church may be indicated
by a churchwardens' inscription, dated 1702, which
Rawlinson found on the partition between the church
and the chancel. (fn. 551) Perhaps the west gallery which
was certainly in existence by 1732 was erected then. (fn. 552)
It was doubtless for the singers and their accompanists; a bass-viol is mentioned in the 18th-century
churchwardens' accounts. (fn. 553) The churchwardens
also spent £3 7s. 6d. on painting the king's arms in
1732 and £12 2s. in the same year for mending the
church leads. (fn. 554) Richard Belson had a private pew
put up for his family near the pulpit in 1739. (fn. 555) But it
is evident from the archdeacon's report of 1759 that
the church, like others at this time, was somewhat
neglected. (fn. 556) Weeds and rubbish were to be cleared
from the foot of the walls, the walls were to be
pointed where necessary, parts of the pavement and
of the woodwork were to be repaired, a new door
into the church was to be made on the south side and
the steps up to the pulpit were to be made 'more convenient and decent'. Later in the century, in 1784,
the chancel was being repaired and Mr. Chapman's
bill of £2 6s. for 'new painting' three verses, paid in
1790, may mark the completion of the work. The
tower already had its clock, for £2 was paid in
1792 for winding it and in 1812 it was repaired by
J. Tomlinson for £7 10s. (fn. 557)

The collapse of part of the medieval parapet of the
tower and consequent damage to the roof led to the
decision by a vestry meeting in 1811 to commission
Isaac Stone of Thame to do the necessary repairs.
His estimate and the itemized bill for the repairs done
have survived. (fn. 558) He undertook to 'take down the
spire, stone work forming the base of a spire on the
top of the tower, the parapet walls and the walls of
the tower as far down as the bottom of the tower
windows', and to rebuild the upper stage of the
tower, using the best of the old material. The old
weathercock was to be refixed. Stone's bill amounted
to £415 5s. 4d. He made a new oak roof covered with
lead, and a new parapet and pinnacles of stone. The
reconstructed tower is shown in Buckler's drawing
of 1822. (fn. 559) Bills, now in the church chest, show that
various other restoration work was done at the same
time. Croxford received over £16, for example, for
work on the bells and other repairs to the ironwork;
Thomas Simons, glazier, received £3 2s. 9d. for new
leading quarries of glass, and Waklen, the carpenter,
£38 12s. 11d. The last made window shutters for the
tower windows, repaired the bell frame, and rehung
two of the bells. Some years later, in 1819–20,
Cooper's bill for 'writing on the church' came to
£4 15s. This was presumably for more texts or for the
Lord's Prayer and Commandments. In 1829 John
Brown was granted licence to appropriate the private
gallery that he had built; it was at the east end of
the church and adjoined the chancel. (fn. 560)

Further repairs were carried out in 1831, when the
medieval roof was replaced by a flat ceiled one. (fn. 561)
The carved corbels which supported the principals of
the earlier roof remain between the windows of the
clerestory.

A bequest of £300, free of legacy duty, bequeathed
in 1843 by John Holland, Vicar of Aston, for 'the
alteration and improvements required in the interior of the church . . . or in extending the north
aisle', was used in 'new pewing' the nave, south and
north transepts, restoring all the windows, and in
other alterations and improvements. At the same
time the chancel underwent 'a complete renovation'
at the expense of the lay impropriators. A robing
room was built at the vicar's expense. The church
was reopened on 6 January 1850 by the bishop. (fn. 562)
Six years later, in 1856, a new east window was
inserted. It is said to have been copied from a design
in Bloxham's Architecture. (fn. 563) When Parker described
the church in 1846 he noted that although the church
was 'Decorated' in character the tracery had been
removed from nearly all the windows. (fn. 564)

In 1874 an organ was erected in the north aisle,
which was extended at the west end for the purpose.
The Decorated west window of the north chapel and
the Romanesque window and door in the north wall
of the nave were moved to their present position in
the north wall of the aisle. (fn. 565)

A more thorough restoration was carried out by
E. G. Bruton in 1884. The builders were Silver Sons
& Filewood. Their total bill came to £779 odd, but
details of only about £210 worth of work have survived. This included the rebuilding of the south wall
of the south aisle and repairing its roof; the repairing
of the exterior stonework (i.e. the window labels, the
plinths and strings of the north and south side of the
church); building a new buttress to the north aisle;
refacing parts of the walls with flint; and repairing
the roof. The tracery was restored to the windows;
the west gallery was demolished and the seats were
rearranged. (fn. 566) The old altar slab with its original consecration crosses was discovered at this time and
replaced in its original position. In 1931 it was placed
on stone pillars, when the chancel (rededicated in
1932) was refurnished by the Revd. T. D. Hickes as
a memorial to Frances and Mary Hickes. New oak
altar rails were made and curtains were hung on
the east wall. (fn. 567) In 1952 a wooden screen between the
tower and the nave was erected to the memory of
Aileen Stammers; a prayer desk was presented as a
memorial to Dr. Guy Spencer Grist (d. 1953); and
a faculty was obtained to install electric light in 1954.

The matrix of a 14th-century brass to Sir Hugh le
Blount (d. 1314) commemorates his burial at the
foot of the chancel step. (fn. 568) Monumental brasses
of the 14th and 15th centuries commemorate the
burial in the nave of Isabel (d. 1367), wife of Richard
Crawford; of Ralph (d. 1437/8) and Isabella (d.
1445) Coppyn; of a man (d. 1470) and his wife and
five daughters, whose names are lost, but who can
be identified from their coat of arms as members of
the Alyson family; (fn. 569) and of Eleanor Eggerley (d.
1508). (fn. 570) These brasses have either disappeared or
are entirely concealed by pews, or are to be found,
without inscriptions, on the south wall of the nave
or in the north aisle.

The only medieval tomb, a 13th-century one
carved with a floriated cross, is in the chancel. Lady
Cecile Hobbee's monument is in the north chapel.
She was the wife of Sir Edward Hobbee (Hoby) of
Bisham and widow of John Wentworth, and her
monument displays the arms of Wentworth and
of Unton, for she was a daughter of Sir Edward
Unton. (fn. 571) She died in 1618. There are memorials in
the south chapel to the Thornehill family and two
brasses to Frances Thornehill (d. 1640), wife of
Richard Thornehill, and to her mother Jane (d. 1643),
wife of Gregory Cole, Esq. There is also a ledger
stone to Henry Lee (d. 1632), (fn. 572) and two in the nave
and chancel, one to Andrew Crooke, citizen and
stationer of London (d. 1675), and the other to
Matthew Hawes, vicar for 38 years (d. 1761). Rawlinson noted a ledger stone to William Stevens (d.
1714), the son-in-law of Robert Hester, and a tablet
recording that John Cowper gave 40s. to the poor of
Aston in 1614. (fn. 573) These have disappeared.

Nineteenth- and 20th-century memorials include
tablets to members of the Caillaud, Clerke, and Lambert families, who were successively lords of the
manor, and to their relatives. (fn. 574) There are marble
inscriptions in the old vestry to Mary (d. 1808) and
her husband Brig.-Gen. John Caillaud (d. 1812); in
the nave to Richard Clerke, Esq., of Kingston (d.
1820), to his wife, the Hon. Mary Clerke (d. 1844),
and to his grandson John Clerke Brown (d. 1833);
to Susan Henrietta (d. 1826), daughter of Capt.
Reuben Caillaud Mangin, by H. Hopper; to Elizabeth Catherine (d. 1835), daughter of Capt. Mangin,
by Hopper; to Magdalene Mangin (d. 1840) also by
Hopper; to Rear-Admiral Reuben Caillaud Mangin
(d. 1846) by Bedford of Oxford St., London; to
Cranley Lancelot Kerby (d. 1857), Rector of Stoke
Talmage, and to his wife Mary; and in the south
aisle to Sir Henry John Lambert, Bt. (d. 1858), of
Aston House, by T. Gaffin of Regent St., London.
There is a marble monument in the chancel to John
Holland (d. 1844), Vicar of Aston, and to his wife
Catherine Mary (d. 1848) by Denman of Regent St.,
and a tablet in the old vestry to their daughter
Catherine Anne (d. 1843) also by Denman. A tablet
erected in about 1908 commemorates the births
and deaths of the eleven children of Sir Henry J.
Lambert, Bt. They died between 1856 and 1924.
There is a bronze tablet to Cmd. Charles F. Ballard,
R.N., torpedoed in H.M.S. Formidable in 1915; a
tablet in the chancel to Thomas Hickes, vicar 1919–48; a tablet to Edward Hayes Dashwood (d. 1950),
lord of Aston Rowant manor; and a war memorial
tablet erected in 1956 to the dead of both World Wars.

Some of the painted glass with which the windows
of the medieval church were filled has also survived.
In the east window of the north aisle are three 14thcentury quatrefoils with a figure of Christ, and
foliage and architectural fragments in grisaille. In
the Perpendicular window of the nave are 15thcentury fragments including the figure of an angel
playing a harp and of Christ seated at a table. (fn. 575)

The coats of arms in the windows of the north
chapel recorded by Rawlinson have disappeared. (fn. 576)

A faculty was granted in 1908 permitting Mrs.
William Lambert to have the east window of the
chancel filled with painted glass as a memorial to her
family and also the centre window of the north
aisle, (fn. 577) the children of the parish collecting the money
in this case. Clayton & Bell designed both windows.

The inventory of church goods made in 1553 is
surprisingly meagre. There were four great bells, a
sanctus bell, and a hand bell; a tablecloth and two
towels and one chalice without a cover. (fn. 578)

The church now (1958) possesses no early silver:
it has a silver chalice of 1841, a paten with foot of
1844, and a plate of 1843. (fn. 579)

There is a ring of five bells and a sanctus bell. The
third is a medieval bell, inscribed 'Sancte Johannes
Ora pro nobis' and cast by Roger Landen in about
1450; the second, treble, and tenor were cast by
Ellis Knight (I) in 1625; the fourth was recast by
John Warner & Sons in 1873. (fn. 580) Records of other
bells have survived. A small bell was cast in the
18th century and inscribed 'Simon Gupper, C.W.
1730', (fn. 581) and another was cast in the same year by
Edward Hemins of Bicester. (fn. 582)

The registers date from 1554, with a gap between
1573 and 1580, and the 'bishop's transcripts', which
contain some information not in the original registers,
from 1639. There are churchwardens' accounts from
1731 onwards. (fn. 583)

The chapel of ST. JOHN in Kingston Blount,
built of red brick with a roof of Broseley tiles and
consisting originally of chancel, nave, north porch,
and central bell-cot, was consecrated in 1877. The
architect was E. A. (later Sir Aston) Webb, the
builder James Holland. (fn. 584) Its site was given by A. H.
Clerke Brown, the lord of the manor, and it was built
with money given by various parishioners, including
Clerke Brown, Henry Hamp, and William Fletcher,
and by the Oxford Diocesan and London Church
Building Societies. (fn. 585) Gifts for the furnishing of the
church included candlesticks, an altar table and
altar cloth, and the bell. (fn. 586) Henry Hamp gave the
painted glass in the three-light east window. (fn. 587) In
1887 the south transept was added at his expense;
Webb was again the architect. (fn. 588) The church was
lit by oil lamps until 1945, when electricity was installed. (fn. 589)

A tablet in the church commemorates the gift by
Henry Hamp of £1,000 in trust for the endowment
of the church and of the performance of divine service. He also left a bequest in his will of £200
towards the fabric. There is a memorial lancet window, with painted glass, and an inscription below it
to Alexander Penrose Forbes (d. 1875), curate of the
parish in 1844 and later Bishop of Brechin (Forfar),
who gave £500 to the church.

In the churchyard is a cross erected in 1921 as a
war memorial.

Roman Catholicism.

In the late 16th and
17th centuries there were two prominent Roman
Catholic families of gentry in the parish, the Belsons
and the Pigotts. The 16th-century Augustine (I)
Belson of Stokenchurch, the first of the Aston
branch of the family, was the son of William Belson
of Brill and his wife Anne, the daughter of Walter
Curson of Waterperry. (fn. 590) He was thus related on his
mother's side to one of the leading Roman Catholic
families in the county, and to Thomas Belson of
Brill, who was martyred at Oxford in 1589. (fn. 591)
Augustine's children intermarried with other
Roman Catholic families and Anne Tempest of
County Durham, the wife of his son and heir Robert
Belson, was fined for recusancy in 1577 and again in
1620. (fn. 592) Augustine II (d. 1616), the son and heir of
Robert and Anne, and his wife Mildred were also
recusants. (fn. 593)

Another branch of the Belson family lived at
Kingston Blount, but no member of it was listed as
a recusant, and it may have conformed. (fn. 594)

The Aston Belsons appear to have been related by
marriage to their neighbours the Pigotts: Julian, the
widow of Bartholomew Pigott, who was listed as a
recusant in 1577 was probably the sister-in-law of
Robert Belson. (fn. 595) Another member of the family,
Nicholas Pigott of Stokenchurch, in Aston parish,
was reported in 1592 to be among the recusants in
the county remaining at liberty. (fn. 596) Later, Margaret
and Elizabeth Pigott, his wife and daughter-in-law,
were fined. (fn. 597) The Willoughbys, lords of Aston and
Kingston manors, may also have been Roman Catholics. They had business dealings with the Pigotts,
and John Willoughby was granted a pass in 1614 to
travel abroad provided he did not go to Rome. (fn. 598)

Between 1592 and 1622 six women members of
lesser Aston families were fined. (fn. 599)

After the removal of the Belsons of Aston to Brill
in about 1614, (fn. 600) Roman Catholicism probably declined. The Compton Census of 1676 recorded none; (fn. 601)
the Vicar of Aston reported in 1706 that Maurice
Belson was a 'reputed papist', (fn. 602) and in 18th-century
visitation returns, a farmer's wife was reported in
1768 and two servants in 1823. (fn. 603)

Protestant Nonconformity.

After the
Restoration there was a strong nonconformist
element in Kingston. When the Baptist Berkshire
Association met at Tetsworth in 1653 Kingston was
represented. (fn. 604) In 1669 meetings were being held at
Kingston in the houses of Richard Chitch, John
North, and Mrs. Mary North; the congregation,
allegedly 30 or 40 in number, was reported to consist
of Presbyterians, Independents, Quakers, and Sabbatarians. (fn. 605) The Compton Census recorded only
fourteen dissenters, (fn. 606) but these were parishioners
and the meetings at Kingston were presumably
attended by outsiders as well. Chitch and North were
the preachers, together with Ralph Button, an
ejected canon of Christ Church and a distinguished
Congregationalist, (fn. 607) and 'one Belcher'. Belcher was
perhaps the Anabaptist John Belchior (or Belcher) of
Haseley, who had preached against the Restoration
at Oxford in 1660. (fn. 608) The last two were described as
'foreigners', who 'under pretence of receiving the
rent come hither to teach'. (fn. 609)

Chitch's house was still being used as a conventicle, and had been so for the last twenty years,
when in 1682 the vicar, Thomas Reynolds, reported
to the bishop on his difficulties with the Anabaptists. (fn. 610)
One of the churchwardens, who was also the constable, had been expelled for not receiving communion, but the dissenting element in the parish was
strong enough to choose as his successor Chitch's
son-in-law John Munday, a smith, who was an infrequent churchgoer and not a communicant. The
leader of the nonconformist group was still Richard
Chitch; others included his son John, a maltster, and
another member of the family; William Turner,
their 'speaker'; 'Mr. William Stafford . . . a great
Oliverian' and an officer under the Commonwealth,
who believed that anyone who worshipped in church
was a 'barbarian'; and Thomas Bonnot, a shoemaker
and 'practitioner in physic', who promised to come
to church; John North, a 'stubborn and resolute
separatist', was still alive, and his son John said he
could not go to church while his father lived. The
vicar questioned them on their reasons for not attending church. He found that the older members were
the most resolute dissenters and some of the younger
were afraid of their fathers. He finally arranged for
four of the chief offenders to be presented at Quarter
Sessions for non-attendance, but he thought there
would be great difficulty in breaking the 'dissenting
knot' because of the 'advice and support' the group
got from John Clerke, the lord of the manor.

During the following decades the community
declined and by 1738 there were only two Anabaptists left. (fn. 611) In his return of 1759 the vicar made no
mention of nonconformists; in 1768 there was one
Anabaptist; (fn. 612) at the beginning of the 19th century
there was a revival: as late as 1811 the vicar reported
that there were no dissenters, (fn. 613) but from 1814 onwards he said there were a few, whom he called
Methodists, who met at each others' houses or at the
chapel in Chinnor. (fn. 614) This was the beginning of the
Congregational or Independent congregation, said to
have been founded in 1817. (fn. 615) Their meeting-house,
which was in existence by 1820, (fn. 616) was built on land
given by the minister of Chinnor, John Paul. (fn. 617) The
congregation evidently throve, for in 1834 the vicar
reported that one farming family, the Mundays,
and very many of the poorer classes were dissenters. (fn. 618)
The congregation evidently continued to be closely
connected with that of Chinnor. Of thirteen new
trustees appointed in 1844, only three lived in Kingston, and most of the rest in Chinnor or its hamlets. (fn. 619)
They included the schoolmaster of Chinnor, three
farmers, and several tradesmen or craftsmen. The
1851 census gives the average attendance at the Independent chapel as 106 in the afternoon and 25 in the
evening in addition to about 30 children attending
Sunday school. The chapel was still being served
from Chinnor. (fn. 620) In the early 1860's a new chapel was
built on ground offered by the lord of the manor in
exchange for the old site. (fn. 621) The chapel then built
still exists as a branch church of Chinnor (1958). (fn. 622)

In 1847 two labourers' houses, one in Aston and
one in Kingston, were registered for worship. (fn. 623)
These belonged to the Mormonites, whose 'Apostolic
Baptist chapel' in Aston had just been built in 1851.
Their average attendance was 12 in the afternoon and
26 in the evening. (fn. 624) In 1854 the vicar confirmed that
there were only a few Mormonites in the parish, but
nevertheless attributed the decrease in his congregations to their 'sad influence'. (fn. 625) The Mormonite
meeting-house was still open in 1860, but by 1866
was no longer mentioned. (fn. 626)

By 1860 there was a Primitive Methodist chapel in
Kingston. (fn. 627) It belonged to the Primitive Methodists
until their union with the Wesleyans in 1932, (fn. 628) and
is the present Methodist chapel. It is on the Thame
and Watlington circuit, has eleven active members,
and is visited by the minister of Watlington. (fn. 629)

Schools.

A Sunday school had been set up
shortly before 1787 and by 1802 there were two
Sunday schools. (fn. 630) The vicar and a few parishioners
supported them in 1815, one with 12 children was
at Aston Rowant, the other with 30 children was at
Kingston Blount. (fn. 631) By 1818 the dissenters had set
up another Sunday school. There were 100 children
in the three schools in 1818 and 140 in 1833. (fn. 632) No
mention was made of the dissenters' school in 1834,
when there were two Church Sunday schools with
100 children. (fn. 633)

General Caillaud, the squire, supported a voluntary charity school for girls in 1771 and 1784. (fn. 634) It was
said not to exist by 1787 but apparently was restarted, for later overseers' accounts record payments
for charity scholars and schooling. (fn. 635) It may have been
the day-school mentioned in 1808. (fn. 636) At a vestry
meeting at Easter 1813 it was unanimously decided
that a school supported by the parish should be
established as soon as a proper house could be procured. The teacher was to be allowed £20 out of the
poor rates. (fn. 637) By 1818, however, there were said to be
only three lacemaking schools, where girls were also
taught to read. There was no instruction for boys. (fn. 638)
The lacemaking schools still existed in 1833, but by
that time three day-schools had been started. One
was a National school, apparently started for girls
only and supported by Lady Lambert: in 1833 it
had 27 girls and it seems that 12 boys also attended
it. Two other schools had 30 children. The children
began school when they were 6 years old, the boys
leaving at 10 years of age and the girls at 13 years. (fn. 639)
The National school had a continuous history, for the
present school behind Aston Green was built in 1844
as a National Mixed school on land given by Sir Henry
Lambert, lord of the manor, and others. (fn. 640) There
were 50 scholars in 1853 and 60 from 1871 to 1894,
including children from Crowell. (fn. 641) The school was
enlarged in 1891 and 90 children attended in 1903. (fn. 642)
In 1931 it was recorganized as a junior school for
children under 11 years; the seniors were sent by
bus to Chinnor. It became a controlled Church of
England school in 1951 and in 1955 was attended by
23 children. (fn. 643)

There was an infant school in Kingston Blount by
1881, and it was attended by 33 children in 1894. (fn. 644)
There is no record of it after 1903.

There were two short-lived other schools in the
19th century: a private school for 20 children in
1871 (fn. 645) and a night school in 1867. (fn. 646)

Charities.

Captain Peter Crispe of Copcourt, by
will proved 1607, left £50, the interest on which was
to be paid yearly to the poor of Aston and Copcourt. (fn. 647)
By about 1823 the charity had become available to
the whole parish, and in 1955 was being distributed
in doles of 8s. 8d. (fn. 648)

Early in the 17th century three charities were
founded. Agnes Whitmell, widow, of Copcourt, a
Hester by birth, left £2 by will, proved 1610, to the
poor of Aston; William Lynke of Aston, by will
proved 1612, left £5; and John and Joan Cowper of
Chalford soon afterwards left £2 to the poor of
Aston and Chalford. (fn. 649) By the early 19th century
these charities were said to be obsolete. (fn. 650)

Thomas Westbrooke, a Horspath shepherd, who
founded charities in several other parishes, by will
proved in 1632, left £15 to the poor of Aston. (fn. 651) In
1634 his executors bought a yearly rent charge of 15s.
on land in Littlemore. (fn. 652) The rent charge had been
reduced to 10s. by 1895. (fn. 653) It was redeemed for £20
in 1918 (fn. 654) and yielded 10s. in 1955 when it was distributed in 5s. doles. (fn. 655)

By the early 18th century there were 5 acres
called Church Lands, partly in Aston and partly in
Kingston, the rent from which (about £2 10s.) was
used for the upkeep of the church. (fn. 656) This land is
the same as the 3½ acres which in about 1823
were yielding £5 rent a year. The rent was then 'considered as being applicable' to the repairs of the
church and of some tenements used to house parish
paupers. In 1770 General Caillaud gave the churchwardens the 'Poor's Houses' built at the corner of the
churchyard to replace others, standing round the
churchyard and called the 'college houses'. (fn. 657) In 1924
approximately the same sum arising in the form of
rent was spent on church expenses. (fn. 658) The state of
the charity in 1955 was not known.

Francis Wastie in 1781 founded a charity by
which 5s. was paid yearly to two widows, one from
Aston and one from Kingston. (fn. 659) In 1807 the vicar
acknowledged the receipt from Francis Wastie of
£5, being a legacy to the parish under the will of his
father Francis. The testator had stipulated that the
money should be invested and the interest paid to
poor widows. It was also stated that the payment
should be charged upon the elder Wastie's land in
the parish. (fn. 660) These two statements seem incompatible. About 1823 the money was thought to be
charged on 17 acres and a cottage in the parish and
was then being given away on St. Valentine's day. (fn. 661)
The charity, still known as Widows' Half Crowns
or Wastie's Charity, was being distributed in 1955
according to the original design. (fn. 662)

By 1786 6s. 4d. and by 1823 10s. was being distributed about Christmas to the poor of Chalford. (fn. 663)
This was the rent of land known as the Half Acre
Baulk. (fn. 664) The origin of the charity is unknown; it was
still in existence in 1939. (fn. 665) The Chalford poor also
had by 1840 nearly an acre of land called the Poor's
Allotment, which in 1871 was rented for £2 6s. (fn. 666)

Mary Elizabeth James (d. 1819) of Aston, by will
dated 1809, left to the poor the residue of her personal estate. By a decree made in 1820, after an action
in Chancery following her death, the net sum of
£1,163 was invested in stock, and it was further
provided that the distribution was to be in clothes
and money at Christmas among poor parishioners
and one Mary West, a non-parishioner. (fn. 667) The money
was held by trustees, and distributions, beginning
in 1821, were made to families in Aston, and its
hamlets, and to some who had left the parish. Each
family received between 1s. and 2s. for each member,
and until 1845 the churchwardens added the income
from a number of other charities to bring the total
amount up to about £50 a year. Afterwards the
interest from James's charity, which amounted to
about £35 a year, was distributed separately. In
1846, for example, 167 families shared in it, receiving 1s. 7d. for each member; in 1875 115 families
with 360 members received 2s. for each member. (fn. 668)
In 1955 the interest amounted to £29 and was distributed in doles of 10s. to 43 persons. (fn. 669)

By 1786 an estate in Kingston was subject to a
rent charge of £1, said to have been the gift of
Andrew Crooke, whose dates are unknown. (fn. 670) The
money was held separately then and in 1955 distributed annually to 6 poor men of Kingston in doles
of 3s. 4d. (fn. 671)

By 1738 the poor of Kingston were receiving the
interest on £20, (fn. 672) but the origin of the charity is
unknown. In about 1823 the capital was held by
William Watkins of Kingston, and the interest, at
4 per cent., was regularly distributed to the poor in
January with other charities. (fn. 673) It was still being distributed in doles in 1955. (fn. 674) In 1786 a charity for the
poor of Kingston, founded by Edward Bradford, is
recorded. (fn. 675) It consisted of a rent charge of £15s. and
was almost certainly the same as the £1 5s. which
was being paid in the early 19th century out of certain woodlands belonging to the Earl of Macclesfield. (fn. 676) This charity, which was alternatively called
Lydall's rent charge, was also being distributed in
doles in 1955. (fn. 677)

98. V.C.H. Oxon. i. 417. The estate may once have been
part of Wigod of Wallingford's estates, since Miles
Crispin succeeded to many of his lands. For the extent of
Aston see above, p. 16. For Stokenchurch, which was in
Aston parish until the 19th cent., see V.C.H. Bucks. iii,
96–97.

106. Alan was temporarily disseised of Thenford before
1193 and there may also have been a dispute over Aston,
since the £24 4s. in Aston was given 'per breve R.' in
1194: Pipe R. 1194 (P.R.S. n.s. v), 16; cf. Baker, Northants.
i. 710.

167. Rot. Hund. (Rec. Com.) ii. 785; there were Milksops
in Herts. (V.C.H. Herts. iii. 79, 82, 469), but no connexion has been found. The chief lords were perhaps the
Beauchamps who were De Pockele's mesne lords for 1 hide
in Stokenchurch: Rot. Hund. ii. 786.

185. Rot. Hund. (Rec. Com.), ii. 786; it was said to be 3½
hides in 1254 (ibid. 43), when the gift was ascribed,
probably in error, to the Empress Maud, though her connexions with Wallingford do not make it impossible.

257. Cat. Anct. D. vi, C 3926, C 4815. For another grant
to Chiltern see ibid. C 5927. He was probably the John de
Chiltern, clerk, who had long been connected with the
Blounts: Misc. Gen. et Her. op. cit. 318 n. 1, 319.

258. C.P. 25(1)/191/26/49. The relationship of the Dauntseys to the Blounts is not clear. It is suggested (Misc. Gen.
et Her. op. cit. 321 n. 5) that Elizabeth was Blount's widow,
but this does not fit in with the Dauntsey pedigree:
Macnamara, Danvers Fam. 229.

259. Close R. 1454–61, 10. For him see J. S. Roskill,
Commons in Parl. of 1422, 46–47, 239; for his Wiltshire
lands see Cal. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Com.), iv, p. 259. In 1427
he enfeoffed John Coventry and others with his land in
Kingston Blount and Kingston Lilly (Cat. Anct. D. vi,
C 4374), and this was possibly the John 'Colfox' returned
as holding the manor in 1428: Feud. Aids, iv. 192.

670. Char. Don. ii. 986. There were several Andrew Crookes
in Kingston in the 17th and early 18th cents.: see MS.
Wills Oxon. (index vol.). Andrew Crooke (d. 1667) of
Kingston left 40s. to the poor of Kingston: MS. Wills
Oxon. 120/2/42.

671. 8th Rep. Com. Char. 529; Char. Com. Accts. file. There
is a list of those receiving the charity in Par. Rec. 1st reg.,
end sheets.